Aid and comfort to communist China.

ITEM: A "cooperative venture in space" between China and the United States "could offer the two countries a way to ease tensions," reported the Houston Chronicle on May 7. "As part of his overture, Bush promised [Chinese President Hu Jintao] that NASA Administrator Michael Griffin would visit China later this year for more definitive discussions" about such cooperation.

ITEM: The state-run People's Daily in Beijing on May 1 commented on American media accounts about U.S.-Chinese space cooperation, and suggested that joint moon exploration should be the goal. However, the communist paper editorialized, not everyone in the United States favors cooperation and some even talk about a "space threat." For at least a decade, "since China entered the international commercial satellite service market, the United States has repeatedly prohibited the use of Chinese rockets to launch satellites with 'U.S.-made parts,' saying that to do so allowed the possibility of 'revealing state secrets.' American policy in regard to Chinese space launch activities has caused considerable damage to China. Even today, such hostility and suspicion remain evident."

CORRECTION: For many, reading about trying to ease national tensions through transfers of space technology sounds vaguely pleasing to the ear. But the allure of "cooperation" is really like bait in a trap. The Chinese enticingly wave the idea of "cooperation" to get our technology--which they use to strengthen their military might. Not only are the Chinese as a result better able to threaten the U.S. directly--for example, through anti-satellite weaponry--but they also continue to export advanced military technology to potential adversaries such as Iran (and force American taxpayers to pay for defenses against American technology).

Many of the same technologies needed for "space" missions are also used for long-range missiles. The Chinese of course recognize the nature of such dual-use technologies; indeed, former dictator Deng Xiaoping's "16-Character Policy," which was codified into Beijing's policy, means: combine the military and civil, giving priority to the military.

What the Pentagon Says ... and Omits

One needs to connect the dots on occasion. In the mass media, passing reference was made, in some articles, to this observation made in May by the Department of Defense: "Several aspects of China's military development have surprised U.S. analysts, including the pace and scope of its strategic forces modernization"--including long-range missiles and nuclear weapons. However, the media neglected important facts about how China was able to modernize so quickly. In fact, even a Pentagon report about China didn't put China's military development in context.

The Department of Defense analysis, "Military Power of the People's Republic of China, 2006," did point out that China is modernizing its ballistic-missile force, including "introducing a new road-mobile, solid-propellant, intercontinental-range ballistic missile (ICBM), the DF-31 and the extended-range DF-31A, which can target most of the world, including the continental United States."

However, omitted is the fact that the DF-31s now feature "penetration aids" using "kick motors" provided by Lockheed to the Chinese. They are, as described by one expert, "interchangeable with the technology used for pointing warheads to precise points on the ground" (as quoted in The China Threat, by Bill Gertz, published in 2000).

Chinese Acquisitions From America

The assistance from U.S. firms Loral and Hughes, whose "space technology" helped Beijing militarily, in part led to a congressional investigation in 1999 called the Cox Commission. The unclassified version of the commission's report, more than 870 pages long, details how China "has mounted a widespread effort to obtain U.S. technology by any means, legal or illegal."

Beijing has gathered information on modern U.S. nuclear warheads, the so-called neutron bomb, and advanced military technology on radar satellites, for instance. The People's Republic, found the Cox Commission, "has increasingly focused on acquiring U.S. and foreign technology and equipment, including particularly dual-use technologies that can be integrated in the PRC's military and industrial bases."

Espionage is only one method through which the Chinese obtain our hi-tech equipment. Said the commission: "Many of the most egregious losses of U.S. technology have resulted not from professional operations under the control or direction of the MSS [Ministry of State Security] or MID [Military Intelligence Department of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army], but as part of commercial, scientific, and academic interactions between the United States and the PRC."

The damage has been widespread. The congressional report disclosed that communist China "has benefited from advanced U.S. and Western military technology in several areas, including ground force weapons, communications, remote sensing, and tactical and strategic systems."

Disregarding Beijing's Growing Threat

China of course has not suddenly turned into a friend of freedom. For just one example, consider that the U.S.-China Security and Review Commission noted in a 2004 report: "Chinese entities continue to assist Iran with dual-use missile-related items, raw materials and chemical weapons-related production equipment and technology." This occurred, significantly, after yet another Chinese promise to withhold missile technology from Tehran.

The Chinese government apparently has little to fear about America cutting off its supply of new technology. As the Associated Press noted in its stolid fashion: "The United States may ease regulations on American technology exported to China if the importers can show they are not using it for military purposes."

The more things change, the more they stay the same.