Timeline of the Cox Report controversy

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The timeline of the Cox Report controversy is a chronology of information relating to the People's Republic of China's (PRC) nuclear espionage against the United States detailed in the Congressional Cox Report . The timeline also includes documented information relating to relevant investigations and reactions by the White House, the U.S. Congress, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and United States Department of Justice.

Contents

1995

June

John Deutch John Deutch, Undersecretary of Defense, 1993 official photo.JPEG
John Deutch

July

October

November

1996

February

A model of a typical satellite Clementine lunar orbiter - Smithsonian Air and Space Museum - 2012-05-15.jpg
A model of a typical satellite

March

April

Samuel "Sandy" Berger SandyBerger.jpg
Samuel "Sandy" Berger

May

June

1997

April

May

July

August

September

FBI Director Louis Freeh Louisfreeh.jpeg
FBI Director Louis Freeh
Attorney General Janet Reno Janet Reno-us-Portrait.jpg
Attorney General Janet Reno

October

November

PRC President Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin at Hickam Air Base, October 26, 1997, cropped.jpg
PRC President Jiang Zemin

1998

February

June

October

December

1999

January

March

May

Lehrer: The main hit on you, as you know, Mr. Berger, is that you were told (about China's nuclear espionage) in April of 1996 and you didn't tell the president about it until, what, a year or so later, even longer than that? Berger: I was told in 1996, Jim, of the... at a briefing, of the evolution of China's strategic program, in two cases, one went back to 1979. The one that went that went to... involved in the mid-80's. I found that very troubling. I asked DOE... I acted in response to what I heard. I asked DOE to widen and deepen its investigation, to intensify as they were planning their counterintelligence efforts to brief the Congress[.] [W]ithin several weeks the FBI had opened up a full investigation on the prime suspect. So I took the actions that I believe were appropriate. I get an awful lot of threat information every day. I have to make a judgment as to what I brief the president on and what I don't. In 1997, when this was clearly a pattern and a systemic problem, I thought it was essential for the president to know. [30]

December

In December 1999, four Stanford University professors release a report rebutting the Cox Commission, noting "The language of the report, particularly its Overview, was inflammatory and some allegations did not seem to be well supported....Some important and relevant facts are wrong and a number of conclusions are, in our view, unwarranted." [31] A number of other reports, including one from the National Academy of Sciences, reach similar conclusions.

Notes and references

  1. Report of the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China Archived 2006-09-28 at the Wayback Machine , Chapter 2, The "Walk-In", U.S. House of Representatives, Retrieved: April 14, 2006
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Gerth, Jeff and Risen, James, "China Stole Nuclear Secrets From Los Alamos, U.S. Officials Say" Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine , New York Times, March 6, 1999
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Risen, James and Gerth, Jeff, "U.S. Is Said to Have Known Of China Spy Link in 1995", New York Times, June 27, 1999
  4. Department of Energy, FBI, and Department of Justice Handling of the Espionage Investigation into the Compromise of Design Information on the W-88 Warhead Statement by Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Archived 2006-05-03 at the Wayback Machine , August 5, 1999, Retrieved: May 29, 2006
  5. Shmitt, Eric, "A Secret U.S. Device Missing After '96 China Rocket Crash" Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine , New York Times, June 24, 1998
  6. "Loral CEO frequent administration guest" Archived 2004-07-04 at the Wayback Machine , Associated Press, May 21, 1998
  7. 1 2 Mintz, John, "2 U.S. space giants accused of aiding China Hughes, Boeing allegedly gave away missile technology illegally" Archived 2006-06-29 at the Wayback Machine , Washington Post, January 1, 2003
  8. "Boeing, Hughes settle technology transfer charges", Associated Press, March 6, 2003
  9. "Chinese Aerospace Official Denies Giving To Dems" Archived 2008-05-24 at the Wayback Machine , CNN.com, May 21, 1998
  10. Gerth, Jeff and Risen, James, "Intelligence Report Points To 2d China Nuclear Leak" Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine , New York Times, April 8, 1999
  11. Gerth, Jeff, "Old Concerns Over Data Transfer to China Get New Attention", New York Times, December 7, 1998
  12. Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China Archived 2006-09-28 at the Wayback Machine , Chapter 2, Notification of the President and Senior U.S. Officials, Retrieved: June 2, 2006
  13. 1 2 Gerth, Jeff, "China Stole Data, Report Concludes" Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine , New York Times, May 21, 1999
  14. Risen, James, "Though Suspected as China Spy, Scientist Got Sensitive Job at Lab" Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine , New York Times, March 24, 1999
  15. Sterngold, James, "Nuclear Scientist Set Free After Plea in Secrets Case; Judge Attacks U.S. Conduct" Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine , New York Times, September 14, 2000
  16. Gerth, Jeff and Risen, James, "Reports Show Scientist Gave U.S. Radar Secrets to Chinese", New York Times, May 10, 1999
  17. Almanac Archived 2005-08-29 at the Wayback Machine , CNN.com, August 10, 1997
  18. 1 2 Risen, James, "U.S. Fires Scientist Suspected Of Giving China Bomb Data", New York Times
  19. Diamond, Howard, "Clinton Moves to Implement Sino-U.S. Nuclear Agreement" Archived 2006-02-14 at the Wayback Machine , Arms Control Today, January/February 1998
  20. "Clinton OKs Nuclear Power Sales To China" Archived 2006-08-27 at the Wayback Machine , CNN.com, October 29, 1997
  21. Purdum, Todd S., "Jiang Does Business On Last Stop Of U.S. Visit" Archived 2007-03-10 at the Wayback Machine , New York Times, November 3, 1997
  22. Gerth, Jeff, "2 Companies Pay Penalties For Improving China Rockets", New York Times, March 6, 2003
  23. "Peña Takes Action to Boost Security at DOE Defense Nuclear Facilities" Archived 2006-07-02 at the Wayback Machine , DOE Press Release, November 7, 1998, Retrieved June 8, 2006
  24. Jeff Gerth (June 13, 1998), "Reports Show Chinese Military Used American-Made Satellites" Archived 2018-10-31 at the Wayback Machine , The New York Times
  25. Federation of American Scientists website Archived 2006-09-05 at the Wayback Machine , Retrieved: June 7, 2006
  26. House Resolution 463 Archived 2012-12-16 at the Wayback Machine , Library of Congress Thomas website, Retrieved: June 6, 2006
  27. "Congress Returns Export Control Over Satellites to State Department" Archived 2018-10-31 at the Wayback Machine , Arms Control Association, October 1998, Retrieved: June 8, 2006
  28. David Stout (Dec. 5, 1998), "C.I.A. Is Focus of Inquiry in China Rocket Case" Archived 2018-10-31 at the Wayback Machine , New York Times
  29. "Report: China stole U.S. nuke secrets to 'fulfill international agenda'" Archived 2006-03-03 at the Wayback Machine , CNN.com, May 25, 1999
  30. Transcript Archived 2014-01-08 at the Wayback Machine , NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, PBS, May 27, 1999, Retrieved: May 27, 2006
  31. M.M. May, Editor, Alastair Johnston, W.K.H. Panofsky, Marco Di Capua, and Lewis Franklin, The Cox Committee Report: An Assessment Archived 2015-06-21 at the Wayback Machine , Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC), December 1999.

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