China: Suspected Acquisition of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Secrets

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brought more harm than benefits to U.S. interests. Senator Helms wrote on July 8,
1999, that the Cox Report presented “damning disclosures on the Clinton
Administration’s `engagement’ policy toward Beijing” and urged a “fundamental
reassessment”of U.S. policy toward China. 269
Still other critics pointed out that PRC espionage and China’s military had and
will continue to challenge U.S. interests and the question was not whether the United
States needed to remain engaged with China — as the President said, but how that
long-standing policy of engagement was carried out. According to them, engagement
— but with a tougher approach — remained the most appropriate policy. For
example, James Lilley, former ambassador and CIA station chief in China, argued
that while both PRC spying and American spying will continue, exposing PRC
espionage “should not derail our relationship with China.” 270
Concerns over PRC nuclear espionage spurred even some supporters of
engagement to criticize the Clinton White House’s pursuit of what it called a
“constructive strategic partnership” with China. 271 Henry Kissinger, credited in part
with the opening to China, wrote that “a sustainable Sino-American relationship
requires something beyond presidential invocations of ‘engagement’ that imply that
contact between the two societies will automatically remove all latent tensions, or of
a ‘strategic partnership’ whose content is never defined.” 272
Besides the immediate concerns about lab-to-lab exchanges, the W88 case also
had ramifications for other aspects of the relationship with China. In March 1999,
Representatives Gilman and Rohrabacher wrote letters to Defense Secretary William
Cohen questioning exchanges with the PLA. 273 The Pentagon has pursued militaryto-military
ties with the PLA as a means to deter PLA provocations, increase mutual
understanding, and expand relations with important leaders in China. Some
observers were also concerned that a worsened political atmosphere would affect
trade relations, including assessments about China’s entry into the World Trade
Organization (WTO).
269 Helms, Jesse, “`Engagement’ With China Doesn’t Work. Now What?” Wall Street
Journal, July 8, 1999.
270 Lilley, James R., “Blame Clinton, Not China For The Lapse At Los Alamos,” Wall Street
Journal, March 17, 1999.
271 Notably, the Secretary of Defense’s November 1998 East Asia Strategy Report did not
use the term, “constructive strategic partnership.”
272 Kissinger, Henry, “Single-Issue Diplomacy Won’t Work,” Washington Post, April 27,
1999.
273 Representative Rohrabacher, letter to Secretary Cohen, March 18, 1999; Bill Gertz,
“General Postpones China Trip,” Washington Times, March 22, 1999.