Cox report
From Academic Kids
The Cox Report is a classified U.S. government document reporting on People's Republic of China's covert operations in the United States, focusing on PRC spies' theft of design information on the U.S.'s most advanced thermonuclear weapons. A declassified version of the report, which was released on January 3, 1999, may be found here (http://www.house.gov/coxreport/cont/gncont.html).
The report was the work product of the Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People's Republic of China. This special committee, created by a 409-10 vote of the House of Representatives on June 18, 1998, was tasked with the responsibility of investigating whether technology or information was transferred to the People's Republic of China that may have contributed to the enhancement of the nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles or to manufacture of weapons of mass destruction.
The chairman of the Committee was Rep. Christopher Cox, a California lawmaker, whose name became synonymous with the committee's final report. Four other Republicans and Democrats served on the panel, including Rep. Norm Dicks, who served as the senior Democrat member. The committee's final report was approved unanimously by all 9 members.
While several groups, including the People's Republic of China, contend that the Report is overstated or inaccurate, its authors and supporters maintain that its gist is undeniable. The report's basic findings were as follows, quoted from the above document's opening summary:
The People's Republic of China (PRC) has stolen design information on the United States' most advanced thermonuclear weapons. The Select Committee judges that the PRC's next generation of thermonuclear weapons, currently under development, will exploit elements of stolen U.S. design information. PRC penetration of our national nuclear weapons laboratories spans at least the past several decades and almost certainly continues today.
The PRC has stolen or otherwise illegally obtained U.S. missile and space technology that improves PRC military and intelligence capabilities.
The Cox Report's release prompted major legislative and administrative reforms. More than two dozen of the Select Committee's recommendations were enacted into law, including the creation of a new National Nuclear Security Administration to take over the nuclear weapons security responsibilities of the Department of Energy.
Additionally, two of the U.S. companies named in the report-- Loral Space and Communications Corp. and Hughes Electronics Corp.--were later successfully prosecuted by the federal government for violations of U.S. export control law, resulting in the two largest fines in the history of the Arms Export Control Act. Loral paid a $14 million fine in 2002, and Hughes paid a $32 million fine in 2003.
External Links
- PBS piece on the Cox Report (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/congress/jan-june99/cox_report_index.html)
- A collection of short excerpts from articles about responses to and criticisms of the Report (http://intellit.muskingum.edu/spycases_folder/spieschina_folder/spycaseschinacox.html)
- Response to the Report by the People's Republic of China (http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/1999/07/chinacox/index.html)
- Cox Committee's rebuttals to criticism (http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~johnston/rostow.pdf) (PDF)
- A response to the rebuttal (http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~johnston/reply.pdf) (PDF)
