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U.S.-Chinese
Silence Over Bugged Plane
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| Chinese
President Jiang Zemin is interviewed by Chinese Television
aboard plane |
BEIJING,
Jan. 20 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Chinese and American
officials refused to comment Sunday on Western press reports that a
Boeing 767 airliner manufactured in the U.S. for Chinese President
Jiang Zemin contained more than 20 spying devices.
According to Britain's Financial Times and the Washington Post,
President Jiang is said to be furious and a major investigation has
been launched inside China.
But the Chinese and U.S. governments are so far avoiding the issue
in public, with China saying it is too early to comment, BBC’s
online news service reported.
The development comes just weeks before a scheduled Sino-U.S. summit
in Beijing, and China has been restating its commitment to good ties
with Washington.
"We're still trying to contact relevant departments on this
matter," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman told Agence
France-Presse (AFP)reported. "We will notify you when we have a
comment."
As he was speaking, China’s Vice President Hu Jintao was telling a
meeting of former U.S. ambassadors and academics in Beijing that
good ties between the two states were "in the interest of both
nations" and the world.
Hu said there had been "ups and downs" in relations, but
he made no reference to the bugging story, which has not been
reported in the Chinese media.
In Washington, White House spokesman Taylor Gross said: "We
never discuss these kinds of allegations."
According to the FT, the plane was built at the Boeing factory in
Seattle, then fitted out with VIP features by other companies in
Texas.
Beijing, which had its own personnel supervising the work in the
U.S., has now reportedly launched an investigation. Twenty Chinese
air force officers are being questioned on suspicion of negligence
and corruption, and two officials from the China Aviation Supplies
Export and Import Corporation are in custody.
According to the Washington Post, the airliner is sitting with its
insides torn out at an air base north of Beijing.
One of the Texas companies which fitted out the plane has denied any
tampering with the plane.
"I know that we had no culpability whatsoever in this - all we
did was put an interior in it," said Jerry Gore, president of
Gore Design in San Antonio.
Analysts said Sunday they saw the lack of response from Beijing so
far as a sign the Chinese leadership wants to downplay the incident.
"The Chinese government has been cautious in handling this
problem. It has issued no official protest, no criticism," said
Zhu Feng, director of the international securities program of the
Peking University School of International Studies.
"I think it is taking into consideration the development in
China-U.S. relations," Zhu added.
He and others said although Beijing will want an explanation, it
does not want the issue to create new tensions as bilateral
relations have only recently improved from a low point after a U.S.
spy plane collision last year, AFP reported.
"Both the Chinese government and the U.S. will want to go
through diplomatic channels and resolve this quietly," Zhu
said.
Chinese aviation and military officials believe U.S. intelligence
agencies planted the bugs on Jiang's plane while the aircraft was
being refitted in the United States, the Post said, citing unnamed
Chinese and Western sources.
The highly-sophisticated bugs, including ones inside the
presidential bathroom and in the headboard of the presidential bed,
were tiny, satellite-operated devices, according to the reports.
Jiang was said to be furious at the discovery. The bugs were
detected after the aircraft emitted a "strange static
whine" during test flights in China in September, the month
after it was delivered, the FT said.
China is conducting an investigation and as many as 20 air force
officers have been detained for questioning on suspicion of
negligence and corruption, and two officials responsible for
importing the plane have also been taken into custody, the Post
said.
Relations between the two powers were strained only last year by
another incident involving spying equipment.
A U.S. EP-3 spy plane was forced to land in Chinese territory in
April after colliding with a Chinese fighter in what China described
as a "provocation".
Last week, a top Pentagon official confirmed that China was regarded
as a potential military threat, BBC’s online news service
reported.
U.S. Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Lisa Bronsonerming said export
license applications for American microelectronic goods were being
reviewed in the light of the "many questions about the future
direction of China's foreign and security policies".
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