From: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com (roc-digest) To: roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Subject: roc-digest V2 #87 Reply-To: roc-digest Sender: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Errors-To: owner-roc-digest@lists.xmission.com Precedence: bulk roc-digest Tuesday, March 17 1998 Volume 02 : Number 087 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 16 Mar 98 14:17:36 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: CCW posting at Phillips Petroleum (fwd) On Mar 16, David Phillips wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] On Friday, March 13, I received email from the Safety Director of Phillips Petroleum, stating that he had just come from a meeting where the CCW signs were discussed. He told me that the signs would be removed! Thanks to all that called or wrote! (Now, check out their stations, and make sure the signs get removed.) - -- David Phillips sasdvp@sas.com SAS Institute, Inc., Cary, NC If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much room. Don't Tread on Me DVC 35* 47'N 78* 47'W [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Mar 98 14:16:15 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Fwd: C-NEWS: Encouragement from MSNBC? (fwd) On Mar 16, Mike Riddle wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] ==================BEGIN FORWARDED MESSAGE================== >From: Bob Larimer >Subject: C-NEWS: Encouragement from MSNBC? To all who have been dismayed by the Commander in Cheek's approval ratings, here is a glimmer of light I found at the MSNBC "News Chat Question Of The Day" site: Do you believe the depositions released in the Paula Jones case show a pattern of harassment, or are they a pack of lies as Clinton's lawyer Robert Bennett asserts? * 3437 responses Pattern of harassment 84% Pack of lies 16% - --------------------------------- So what do you think? Are we cyberspace denizens simply more discerning, or is the tide finally starting to run out on the POTUS? Bob Larimer blarimer@e-z.net http://www.e-z.net/wtv P.S. You can cast your vote by going to: http://www.msnbc.com/news/OP_Front.asp and clicking on "Question of the day." - ------- To subscribe to c-news, send the message SUBSCRIBE C-NEWS, or the message UNSUBSCRIBE C-NEWS to unsubscribe, to majordomo@world.std.com. Contact owner-c-news@world.std.com if you have questions. ===================END FORWARDED MESSAGE=================== [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 21:13:01 CST From: 1911a1@gte.net Subject: Wisdom from Neal * * PLEASE READ, DISTRIBUTE, DISSEMINATE WIDELY * * The Charlton Heston File - By NEAL KNOX WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 2) -- The Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin today confirmed that NRA First Vice President Charlton Heston actively worked with the Johnson Administration in passing the 1968 Gun Control Act. Heston, who is in line to be elected NRA President in June if elected to the Board in the election now underway, has served as a public spokesman for NRA for several years. Heston's role in expanding the 1968 Safe Streets Act to prohibit the interstate sale or transfer of rifles and shotguns came to light about two weeks ago when the text of two LBJ Library documents began circulating on the Internet. The documents were so historically accurate that they refreshed memories of the fury of our battle against the Gun Control Act, but I didn't recall the huge Hollywood effort having included Heston. I worried that an enemy might have added Heston's name in an effort to torpedo his NRA fundraising. But 13 pages documenting Heston's gun control efforts are in the LBJ Library, White House Central Files "SP" and "LE," Boxes 5 and 80. On June 12, 1968, White House Deputy Special Counsel Larry Levinson sent a memo to a speech writer: "At the President's suggestion, Jack Valenti has agreed to hold a luncheon in Los Angeles ... June 17, at which a number of famous movie actors -- particularly those who play cowboys -- will speak out in favor of the President's gun control legislation. "For this luncheon, we need two pithy, one-page statements which will be read by two of the 'cowboys' (probably Charlton Heston ...), supporting the President's Gun Control Bill." That same day Levinson sent a telegram to Heston at his Beverly Hills home with a proposed statement that the Safe Streets Act "is only a half-way measure. It covers only handguns -- but fails to include shotguns and rifles. ... As you know, a mail order rifle was used to assassinate President John F. Kennedy, and a rifle was used to kill Dr. Martin Luther King." On June 18, 1968 Levinson sent a memo to President Johnson: "Through Jack Valenti's good work, five movie actors will appear tonight on the Joey Bishop show ... to strongly support your gun control proposal. The actors involved are Gregory Peck, Charlton Heston, Hugh O'Brian [sic], James Stewart and Kirk Douglas. "They will read a very tough statement which we prepared here applauding your action in calling for strict gun curbs." Two days later, on June 20, Special Assistant to the President Joe Califano sent President Johnson a copy of a statement "which Hugh O'Brien read on the Joey Bishop Show last Tuesday. This was a statement subscribed to by Kirk Douglas, James Stewart, Gregory Peck and Charleton [sic] Heston and has been widely circulated throughout the country. The statement was prepared by Levinson and Middleton and was 'slipped' to Hugh O'Brien through Jack Valenti." The statement reminded Joey Bishop's audience that "Two weeks ago, Robert F. Kennedy became one of thousands of Americans struck down by an assassin's bullet." It added: "The Congress has recently given us some protection against pistols in the wrong hands. But that's not enough ... not nearly enough. The carnage will not stop until there is effective control over sale of rifles and shotguns. "President John F. Kennedy was murdered by a rifle. "Martin Luther King was murdered by a rifle. "Medgar Evers was murdered by a rifle." On June 18 Hollywood public relations consultant Dick McKay wrote Califano that "Charlton, Gregory [Peck] and Hugh personally planted this statement with the bureau chiefs at AP and UPI. They were greeted warmly and ... (t)he AP also photographed the trio." Heston's gun control efforts are also found on Page 10 of the October 1968 American Rifleman. The head of a Hollywood anti-gun group had praised Heston as one of "little more than a handful" of "diehards" which included Warren Beatty, Candice [sic] Bergen, Marlon Brando, O'Brien and Jill St. John. Although that was 30 years ago, Heston reaffirmed his views as a "gun control moderate" in his 1978 book, An Actor's Life, while making no mention of changing his mind on gun laws in his 1995 book, In the Arena. He has refused to discuss his efforts to pass the Gun Control Act, saying he has always supported the Second Amendment and quoting recent (mainly scripted) statements - - not including such anti-Second Amendment comments as "AK-47's are inappropriate for private ownership," on KGO, or on KABC that it's okay by him to keep the Brady Act "forever" (both last May). We now have a better understanding of what he means when he talks about bringing NRA into "the mainstream." And now I know why I've never seen a picture of him with anything other than a flintlock rifle or a double-barrel shotgun. Voters now have a clear choice in the election -- Heston's slate or the Second Amendment patriots he imperiously tells you to "Vote Against." - --- Knox also urges a "Yes" vote on the member-petitioned "Financial Reporting and Officer Good Conduct" Bylaw amendment. For a list of the candidates Neal supports, see his "Knox Report" in the ballot issue of the March NRA magazines or below. Second Amendment Action candidates: Jerry L. Allen Michael J. Beko James A. Church William Dominguez Howard J. Fezell Daniel B. Fiora Arnold J. Gaunt Fred Griisser Wesley H. Grogan Jr. David M. Gross John Guest Fred Gustafson Don L. Henry William B. Hunt Phillip B. Journey Michael S. Kindberg Jeff Knox John C. Krull Robley T. Moore Larry R. Rankin Albert C. Ross Frank H. Sawberger Thomas L. Seefeldt Kim Stolfer John H. Trentes Glen I. Voorhees Jr. Copy and circulate this letter: a) to NRA members on the internet, b) to your gun clubs and NRA member friends, c) distribute this letter and list at gun shows, gun stores, and shooting ranges. Ask all NRA members you know to VOTE FOR THE SECOND AMENDMENT ACTION CANDIDATES. Visit our web sites: http://www.2ndamendment.net (contains Heston interview) http://www.mcs.net/~lpyleprn/home.html http://www.nealknox.com/ (contains Heston interviews) ------------------------------------------------------ | If guns cause crime, | If you want my | | crime, all of mine are | guns, then you | | defective. | want a war. | |----------------------------------------------------- | Support the Chinese | If Charles Schumer didn't | | Underground! Buy an | exist, it would not be | | SKS and bury it! | necessary to invent him. | ------------------------------------------------------ -*-*-* Visit me at http://home1.gte.net/1911a1 *-*-*- - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Mar 98 00:16:38 PST From: roc@xpresso.seaslug.org (Bill Vance) Subject: Fratrum: Dam Beaver Sequel (fwd) On Mar 16, Ron Marsh wrote: [-------------------- text of forwarded message follows --------------------] Hi, Jo, Here is the Dam sequel to the Dam Beaver story. Both the original and the sequel were sent to me by: Ron - -------------------------------- A Sequel - EPA Action Against the Beaver Dam Killed the Beaver State Official Admits Knowing It's a Beaver Dam, Threatens Tenant Anyway Editor's Note: After the Beaver Dam Story which appeared in Wednesday's Hot Topics, (http://www.reagan.com/HotTopics.main/HotMike/document-3.11.1998.3.html) in which a tenant was threatened for having a beaver dam on the property, we contacted the owner of the property, Stephen Tvedten of Marne, MI to get an update. As most people know, bureaucrats have little or no sense of humor. It turns out the Dept. of Environmental Quality Land & Water Management Div. bureaucrats were not amused by Stephen's December 17th letter and sent another letter in which they attempted to press the issue further. The Tvedtens wrote a letter to their assemblyman, who responded as follows: February 5, 1998 Dear Mr. Tvedten: Thank you for forwarding to me copies of correspondence between you and David Price of the Department of Environmental Quality's (DEQ) Grand Rapids Office concerning the beaver dam that is located on property that you own in Pierson, Michigan. I understand that the department initiated an investigation when a neighbor expressed concern that your tenant was maintaining the beaver dam without a permit. Apparently, individuals can maintain beaver dams only with a permit from the department. Mr. Price has advised me that, upon personally inspecting the property, he determined that the dam has not been maintained either by beavers or humans. As a result, the DEQ has closed its case. You should have been notified of the department's decision by letter dated January 23, 1998. Again, thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. I would like to hear about other state matters that concern you. To that end, I invite you to join my Citizen Advisor group. Members periodically receive summaries of legislation that may generate a great deal of public interest, and register their opinion regarding the legislation on forms that are provided with the summaries. The group's input has helped me to better represent the constituents of the 89th house district. If you are interested in becoming a citizen advisor, please call my legislative aide, Joyce Rutt, at 1-800-JELLEMA, (1-800-535-5362). Sincerely, Jon Jellema State Representative 89th House District By this time, Stephen Tvedten was no longer amused. The State seemed determined to pretend that this ridiculous situation was not really a ridiculous situation and tried to justify their dubious actions involving beaver dams. Below is Stephen's second letter to Mr. David Price Stephen and Rosalind Tvedten 2530 Hayes Street Marne, MI 49435-9751 616-677-1261 616-677-1262 Fax steve@getipm.com January 29, 1998 David L. Price District Representative Dept. of Environmental Quality Land & Water Management Div. Grand Rapids Dist. Office State Office Building, 6th Floor 350 Ottawa, N.W. Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2341 Dear Mr. Price Re: DEQ File #97-59-0023, T11N, R10W, Sec. 20, Pierson Township, Montcalm County Once again, as you have asked in writing, I will give prompt attention to your 1/23/98 letter that I just received today. First of all, I specifically (and initially) want to know who called you and supposedly observed and/or has alleged Mr. Ryan DeVries was ever actively and/or "artificially maintaining" these obvious beaver dams? I specifically want to know: (1) On what days all of this "activity" supposedly took place? (2) What equipment and what materials Mr. DeVries was supposedly using to "repair" the beaver dams? (3) How did these unnamed accusers determine it was Mr. DeVries? (4) From what distance were they observing all of this "activity" and for how long? (5) Was Mr. DeVries wearing scuba gear for the underwater repair? and exactly how was he supposedly doing all the other "artificial maintenance work"? Second, in all of your field inspections, did you ever find even one twig or any other evidence or material on either of the "abandoned" beaver dams that would indicate to you that any human had ever "artificially maintained" these beaver dams? If so, why do you now want to drop this matter? If not, how and/or why did you ever dare to write and/or suggest this ever happened? Third, how did you determine (in winter) these beaver are no longer active? Did the people who called you again trespass on my land and kill these beavers like they did last time? Last time they broke open the dam, set traps and when the beaver came to repair the dam, the beaver were killed! Would you be kind enough to explain to me why several beaver would work all summer building dams and gathering a winter food supply and then simply abandon all of their work so they could either starve or freeze or be taken by predators? What are you going to do about the illegal trapping of my beavers (past and/or present)? Fourth, I sincerely believe you should apologize in writing to Mr. DeVries and so should anyone and everyone else who has falsely accused him and/or tried to threaten and/or intimidate him into removing all of the "debris" he, obviously, did not put into the stream! For you to continue to even suggest in your latest letter to me that you still are giving any credibility to these false accusations, that Mr. Ryan DeVries was ever involved in any illegal, artificial or unauthorized activity does not, in my opinion, even begin to close this matter. Your verbal comments to me on 1/8/98 that this always looked like "abandoned" beaver dams to you, even on your first visit, fills me with wonder and anger; why did you ever accuse Mr. DeVries of personally constructing these "debris" dams and then demand he totally remove these "debris" dams, which you clearly and already knew were constructed by beavers? For you or anyone to continue to suggest my Tenant is still, or was ever, "guilty" of artificially and/or illegally working on these beaver dams is, in my opinion, slanderous! How, if you knew originally these were "abandoned" beaver dams, could you ever demand Mr. DeVries completely remove them? Why not limit him to removing only the "work" he did? It was my understanding that government employees work for the people, who pay their salaries with their taxes, and not the other way around! Your second field inspection showed "no further damming ability has occurred at the site;" are you really trying to suggest again Mr. DeVries has finally "stopped" his artificial maintaining of these beaver dams? I would respectfully submit that if this is really what you (or any other people) would like me and/or the Governor and others in this State to believe about Mr. Ryan DeVries, Mr. DeVries should contact a lawyer. It was my understanding one is innocent until proven "guilty", or is one automatically guilty in Michigan as soon as he is accused? Or are you simply trying to CYA at Mr. DeVries expense? Finally, as you can gather from the tone of this letter, I no longer find this matter at all funny. I want this type of bureaucratic harassment to completely cease. What are you going to do the next time some equine cloaca suggests "someone else" is again engaged in "illegal" and/or "artificial" activity? Threaten them again? Or will you take the time to treat them like human beings and get your facts straight first? Sincerely, Stephen L. Tvedten fc: Governor John Engler Ryan DeVries PETA Once again, Mr. Price, you have sent "carbon copies" to a lot of other people but have given me no addresses. Please send all the people to which you sent a carbon copy, a copy of my reply and your response also. [------------------------- end of forwarded message ------------------------] - -- - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Blessings On Thee, Oh Israel! ***** - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- An _EFFECTIVE_ | Insured | All matter is vibration. | Let he who hath no weapon in every | by COLT; | -- Max Plank | weapon sell his hand = Freedom | DIAL | In the beginning was the | garment and buy a on every side! | 1911-A1. | word. -- The Bible | sword.--Jesus Christ - ----------------+----------+--------------------------+--------------------- - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 09:15:03 -0600 (CST) From: Subject: Security and the Clintons - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 20:49:41 -0500 From: Barry Skaggs Subject: CAS: Comments Regardarding Clearances from non-subscriber I have forwarded comments from a good friend who has to watch what he says due to his current clearance status. Regards, Barry Skaggs >Return-Path: *** >From: *** >Date: Mon, 16 Mar 98 09:21:45 -0500 >Subject: CAS: Secrets "WALK" Out Of State Dept. > >Barry, > >In reference to the article about people walking into the state dept. >and walking out with a fist full of secrets, I'm sure you read this >stuff with the same eye I do in full remembrance of the many security >forms and interviews you had to endure. With every burp in your credit >record (I remember the time at GE when some security nazi was harrassing >you over a ten dollar discrepancy), or every time someone like me had to >admit that, indeed, I did inhale once, we had to PROVE that WE WERE >WORTHY of a clearance. Now we have Chinese Communists and Nationals >granted clearances without the nuisance of a check, or even having to >fill out the forms. It really disgusts me personally, especially since >I recently had to fill out yet another series of SF86 interrogations in >which I had to admit to credit failure, and the subsequent likelihood of >not being able to regain my TS clearance because of it. I've been a >loyal American all of my life and have truly hated Communism and all >that it stands for, I may not be worthy of a clearance, and these >people, our sworn enemies, get full access to the very information we're >supposed to be protecting from THEM, gratis. To coin a phase, it pukes >me out... > >A further disgusting tidbit is that yesterday, we were watching one of >the Clinton cheering hours (either Meet the Repressed, or An Hour >Watching Sam wishing he were doing IT with Cokie) and they were talking >about how Linda Tripp had answered one of her security questionaire >questions in a non-truthful manner. Allegedly she had been charged with >misdemeanor fraud in 1969 and when asked on the form "Have you ever been >charged with an offense?" she answered "No." Frankly, this doesn't >bother me, what bothers me is two issues: The first is that this form is >supposed to be held strictly confidential. Nobody under any >circumstances except in execution of official duty in regards to >investigation of security clearances is supposed to even see this form. >This form can only be seen by individuals directly handling the >applicants case, and no one else, unless they get a court order to do >so. This information is not supposed to be leaked to the press, >particulary to besmirch somebody's reputation. The second issue is >related, and that is this particular question, as you will recall, is in >the so-called Privacy section. This is a section that contains >particulary sensitive information that nobody else is allowed to see. >This is where they ask you about your credit history, drug abuse, legal >problems, etc. When you fill out the form, your employer may review the >first section for completeness, but you are not required to let them see >the privacy section. You can send it in separately if you wish. Again, >its contents are certainly not supposed to be leaked to the press. The >fact that these allegations about her truthfulness on this form are >public without a formal charge having been made indicates that violation >of the privacy act of 1974 and other laws have been perpetrated by >someone in the FBI or NSA by revealing her personal and private >information that was disclosed on this form. Furthermore, it indicates >that someone in the administration is using taxpayers dollars to >investigate and intimidate witnesses in a federal investigation, and >this is obstruction of justice and abuse of power on a grand scale. >Personally, I'd like to see John Huang's SF86 form. I wonder if he >admitted to having close ties to the Chinese Communist Government in his >privacy section. No, because he didn't have to fill out the form!!!! >This is the real Bill Clinton. He's a thug, and he's put his thug >friends in places where that ilk doesn't belong. They use the trust and >privilege given them by the American People to subvert the Will of The >People and to divert attention from their own unseemliness and towards >the minor foibles of loyal citizens trying to bring to the light of >truth the dark and sinister workings of the most evil administration to >have ever held office... May the truth about these people be known, and >the Justice that is above all human Justice reign in Heaven and on >Earth.... Amen.... > >One more item: Slick Willy made Kate Willey touch Bent Willy; Ms. Willy >got the willies because slick willy wanted Ms. Willey to free Bent >willy, Ms. Willey recoiled from Bent Willy and freeing Bent Willy was >out of the question, much to Slick Willy's chagrin. When Ms. Willey told >everyone about Slick Willy's plans for her and Bent willy, Slick Willy >said Ms. Willey was wrong about him and Bent willy and wondered why Ms. >Willey would say these willy mean things...poor,poor slick willy, once >again the victim of mean spirited women who don't understand him... > > >tim > ========================================================================== This mailing list is for discussion of Clinton Administration Scandals. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send electronic mail to majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com. In the message body put: unsubscribe cas Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 18:38:58 -0800 From: rayheizer@value.net (Ray Heizer) Subject: CAS: Chung Pleads Guilty March 16, 1998 at 17:08:55 PST Democrat Fund-Raiser Pleads Guilty LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Democratic fund-raiser Johnny Chung, who has agreed to help prosecutors probing campaign finance abuses, pleaded guilty Monday to charges of funneling $20,000 in illegal contributions to the Clinton-Gore re-election bid. Chung also pleaded guilty to charges involving an $8,000 donation to the campaign of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., tax evasion and fraudulently obtaining a $157,500 loan on his home. Chung, 43, stood before U.S. District Judge Manuel Real and answered "Yes" repeatedly when asked if he was pleading guilty because he was indeed guilty. The judge scheduled sentencing for July 20 at the request of defense attorney Brian Sun, who cited sections of the plea agreement which remained sealed. The delay in sentencing was designed to allow prosecutors to continue questioning Chung and to perhaps to call him before a grand jury or other investigative body in connection with the campaign finance scandal. "Thank God, this is a new beginning of my life," Chung said later outside court. "I want to put all of this behind me as quickly as possible so my family and I can get on with our lives." His lawyer said Chung would cooperate in the investigation, and if asked to detail the operations of the Democratic National Committee, he would provide whatever information he could in that regard. The judge stressed that he was not promising Chung any specific sentence and that the plea agreement did not require him to grant leniency. Chung said he understood. Chung could face 37 years in prison and $1.45 million in fines, but plea bargains usually involve a request for substantially reduced penalties. The sentence usually is determined by how much useful information the defendant provides. The charges against Chung were substantially lower than those he could have faced given the extent of his contributions to Democratic causes. He actually donated some $400,000 to Democratic causes and candidates between 1994 and 1996. A Taiwan-born U.S. citizen, Chung was the fourth person charged in the campaign finance scandal but the first to agree to cooperate with investigators in an effort to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. In recent years Chung was a frequent visitor to the White House. Once he escorted Chinese businessmen who wanted to watch President Clinton deliver a radio address. He has said that in 1995 he was solicited for money by a White House staffer and delivered a $50,000 check to first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's office. Chung contributions were returned after questions arose about their legality. All contents copyright 1998 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ========================================================================== This mailing list is for discussion of Clinton Administration Scandals. If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list, send electronic mail to majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com. In the message body put: unsubscribe cas - - ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 09:44:44 -0600 (CST) From: Subject: China Spies target Corporate America - ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Mon, 16 Mar 1998 22:59:41 -0500 From: jim hofmann Subject: CAS: OT? Fortune: China's Spies Target Corporate America Link for this Fortune story available on my web page: http://www.erols.com/jhofmann March 30, 1998 China's Spies Target Corporate America In the great game of economic espionage, China is emerging as a bold new player. Its primary mission: to get its hands on the world's most advanced technology. Edward A. Robinson Reporter Associate: Ann Harrington or China's all-powerful spy agency, the Ministry of State Security, Bin Wu was a chen di yu, a "fish at the bottom of the ocean"--a long-term agent operating under deep cover. The ministry had sent Wu, a 33-year-old former philosophy professor from Nanjing, to the U.S. to acquire technology and military items and export them back to China through an MSS-controlled front company in Hong Kong. A member of the pro-democracy movement, Wu had been told to spy or face arrest. So this reluctant agent approached the FBI's elite counterintelligence office in 1991 with an invaluable gift: a chance to use him as a telescope into the shadowy world of Chinese intelligence operations. Wu seemed the ideal double agent. He was motivated, smart, and articulate, and formed a strong bond with his FBI handler. And according to court records, no sooner had the bureau started running Wu (code name: Succor Delight) than he delivered the identities of his MSS handlers, their front companies, other Chinese agents operating in the U.S., and even information on a group of Yugoslavians who were trying to purchase Chinese rocket launchers. But in 1992, Wu's cover was blown, and today, instead of operating as an FBI "foreign national asset," Wu sits in a federal prison in western Pennsylvania serving a ten-year sentence for violating the Arms Export Control Act. In an interview with FORTUNE, he says that he has filed a petition to avoid the customary fate of freed foreign felons--being deported home after he is released in 2001. "I hope I can stay here after what I did for this country," Wu says in carefully phrased English. "There is no doubt in my mind that if the Chinese get their hands on me, I will die." As this disturbing episode suggests, China has for some time been spying on corporate America. What's only beginning to be understood is the scope and depth of its intelligence-gathering apparatus. "This is serious business," says Sen. Richard Shelby, chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. "China is trying to make the great leap forward, technologically speaking, and it has great needs for information, especially in the high-tech field. This is going to be an ongoing challenge for both law enforcement and business." Indeed. Intelligence officials, members of Congress, corporate security directors, and former Chinese spies themselves tell FORTUNE that over the past several years Chinese-backed industrial spying has increased dramatically against U.S. business. In a soon-to-be-released survey of 1,300 major U.S. companies, the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS), an association for corporate-security types, found that America business now sees China as its No. 1 foreign economic-espionage threat. According to the experts, China's commercial spy apparatus has been targeting two fronts simultaneously: the U.S. government and corporate America. Suspicions that Beijing sought to pilfer classified economic reports from Washington are already creating a buzz on Capitol Hill. Senate Republicans investigating the Clinton campaign fundraising scandal have suggested that John Huang, formerly assigned to the Taiwan desk in the Commerce Department, may have passed secret economic and trade material to China. Democrats respond that the Republicans have no hard evidence to prove such a charge. Huang's lawyer denies the charge. But the evidence for a PRC assault on corporate America is stronger. Recent examples: Amgen discovered that a Chinese spy had infiltrated its organization and was trying to steal a vial of cell cultures for Epogen, now a $1.2-billion-a-year anemia drug. A Chinese spy in Hong Kong was recently caught using sophisticated telecommunications software to secretly listen in on sensitive phone conversations between American executives. A Chinese engineer working at a Boulder, Colo., software company allegedly stole proprietary source code and peddled it to a PRC company. As a result, the company went out of business. To be sure, China is not alone in this game. In January, FBI Director Louis Freeh testified to Congress that the companies or governments of 23 countries are currently involved in the illicit acquisition of U.S. trade secrets and that 12 of those have aggressively "targeted U.S. proprietary economic information and critical technologies." Before China emerged as a major new player in this old game, Japan and France clearly led the pack. In the 1980s, Hitachi was caught trying to steal secrets from IBM. More recently the Commerce Department warned American aerospace executives to watch out for spying by French intelligence at the Paris Air Show--Hughes Aircraft pulled out altogether. Of course, the U.S. itself is not above blame. Just last year Germany reportedly accused an American diplomat of committing economic espionage by trying to obtain information on high technology. It expelled the diplomat, who was believed to be a CIA officer operating undercover. And now, into this wilderness, steps China. Says Richard Heffernan, a corporate security consultant based in Branford, Conn.: "It is a naive company that thinks that just because it doesn't have a venture in China, it's not at risk of being penetrated here at home." Late last year a concerned Congress passed a law that requires the U.S. intelligence community to prepare a classified report specifically on Chinese intelligence activities, citing economic-espionage operations as one of its top priorities. On top of that, the U.S. Trade Representative's Office is insisting that the Chinese government take action against industrial espionage and product piracy as a condition of joining the World Trade Organization. The Chinese government flatly denies that it is involved in economic espionage. China does say that it is eager to absorb technology from around the world and sometimes uses its market might to get foreign companies to share their technology. Explains Yu Shuning, the press secretary at the Chinese Embassy: "For our modernization program we are trying hard to learn from others. But everything is done on a commercial basis for everyone's mutual benefit. When you sell your products to China, you earn a profit, and in this kind of deal we should benefit also, and sometimes that may be from technology transfer, but this is always done through lawful, normal means." Chinese industrial spying is believed to run the gamut from routine competitive intelligence gathering of company information on Websites and at trade shows to the theft of company trade secrets from offices and labs. No one really knows for sure the value of the secrets stolen or which industries have been hit the hardest--although computers, biotech, and defense probably top the list. As experts take a closer look at China's intelligence operation, they are also finding it difficult to determine how organized it is. Is Beijing using its spy services to direct an overarching program of industrial espionage in the U.S., or is Chinese spying driven primarily by independent black-marketers out to pocket illicit profits? Nicholas Eftimiades, an intelligence officer with the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency and author of the book Chinese Intelligence Operations, believes that Beijing's intelligence services have erected an extensive spy network in the U.S. that bears all the hallmarks of a John le Carre spy novel. Eftimiades says the network focuses as much on netting commercial secrets as on traditional military and political targets. According to Eftimiades, officials at the Ministry of State Security, which runs civilian intelligence activities domestically and abroad, "task" agents to acquire products or data requested by Chinese industry. "They request thousands of items from abroad every year," agrees Stanislav Lunev, a former colonel in the Soviet Union's military-intelligence branch, the GRU, who was stationed in Beijing. Some of those items might be off-the-shelf products like a fertilizer, a machine tool, or a compact-disk player, and the Chinese enterprise requesting the item might simply be seeking to harmlessly "reverse engineer" it. But many of the items sought are also trade secrets, says the former Russian spy, who defected to the U.S. in 1992. "Only now are American companies starting to open their eyes and see the level of Chinese espionage in their country," says the old cold warrior, with a wry smile. Both Eftimiades and Lunev say the MSS recruits professionals, college students, and scientists to be agents in the U.S. Some are instructed to ingrain themselves in companies, universities, and government, and provide a lifetime of service to their spymasters. Information funneled back to China could be as harmless as an annual report or as harmful as proprietary computer code developed after years of R&D spending. One such former Chinese agent, who fears for family members back home and has asked to remain anonymous, has told FORTUNE about a school in Nanjing that trains these spies. Over the past decade, this former agent has periodically recognized fellow graduates from the school working in companies from Silicon Valley to Massachusetts and even in the halls of government in Washington. Systematic as all this sounds, there is also evidence that a great deal of Chinese espionage is actually not so organized, but rather the work of freebooters. Though they might exploit connections to the Chinese state, most of these types are operating on their own for lucre, pure and simple. Take the case involving Amgen, the biotechnology firm based in Thousand Oaks, Calif. In 1993 the company's information-security director, William Boni, learned through an anonymous letter that an employee was poised to steal a vial of cell cultures for Epogen, a drug that helps kidney dialysis patients and that had generated $587 million in revenue for Amgen that year. Boni pulled the accused thief's phone records and saw that over the past few weeks the man had placed more than 70 personal telephone calls to China. Working with the Hong Kong office of Kroll Associates, the New York private-investigation firm, Boni learned that the employee was hunting for Epogen buyers in China and had, through intermediaries, made contact with Chinese government officials. Boni and his Kroll associates put the employee and his partner under surveillance. Then, on a Sunday evening, the spies entered Amgen's labs, and Boni's team pounced. Stunned, the employee confessed to the plot. Yet Amgen chose not to pursue any criminal action because Boni had stopped him before any real damage had been done. All the company did was fire the man. Chinese spy operations can run from the sublime to the ridiculous. In one episode that smacked more of Maxwell Smart than James Bond, members of a Chinese scientific delegation at a Paris trade show were seen dipping their neckties into a photo-processing solution made by Agfa, the German photography company. Apparently the delegates--much to the amusement of French security officials --hoped to analyze "specimens" of the solution taken from their ties. Yet other incidents reveal a high degree of sophistication. In one case three years ago, security consultant Heffernan exposed a Chinese spy in Hong Kong who was trying to learn an American high-tech company's secrets by manipulating a piece of telephone software known as executive override. That feature allows anyone to listen in on lines. The spy, however, had disabled the warning tone indicating the call is being monitored and had used the program to eavesdrop on sensitive conversations between executives. Fortunately, the spy left an obvious electronic fingerprint on his handiwork, and he was caught. Even though the company's top brass were furious, little was done, other than sending the exposed operative on his way. Why did Heffernan's clients let the guy go? Actually, this reaction is not uncommon. Companies victimized by espionage are concerned that going to the authorities will publicize the incident and leave the impression that they don't take their security seriously or are even incompetent. Such a disclosure can dampen a stock price, scare off customers, or in serious cases topple senior executives. "When a company gets hit by a spy, it's like it suddenly has a sexually transmitted disease," says Kevin D. Murray, a New Jersey-based specialist in electronic-surveillance detection. "Everyone wants something done to prevent it from spreading, but no one wants to talk about it, even though talking about it, sharing the experience, is the only way to make it safer for everyone to do business." Chinese espionage poses a special set of worries. The last thing U.S. firms want to do is antagonize Chinese officials, who hold the keys to a market with 1.2 billion people--something an embarrassing public accusation of spying is likely to do. James P. Chandler, president of the National Intellectual Property Law Institute in Washington, D.C., says scores of American companies are continually parrying Chinese penetration, both in ventures in China itself and at home in the U.S., but making little noise about it publicly. His latest message: Corporations should report incidents of spying to the authorities. Chandler argues that when a victim keeps a crime hushed up, it sends a dangerous message that it's okay to steal intellectual property. And that will encourage countries like China to keep on spying. "The gravity of what's involved here has not come home to a lot of U.S. industry, from lawyers on up to senior management," says Chandler. That said, Americans should be careful not to brand all Chinese businessmen as spies, especially at a time when U.S.-China relations are already strained. In fact, one can argue that there's a gray area between spying and good old-fashioned competitive intelligence. "We need to be very careful with these kinds of issues," says Evan Feigenbaum, a fellow with the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University and an expert on China. "People can be very incautious with the term 'espionage,' and the simple fact that the Chinese are interested in technology doesn't mean it's espionage." So there lies the dilemma. On the one hand, a CEO must protect his trade secrets. But he also doesn't want to create a suffocating, Orwellian culture that stifles the free flow of ideas--something that has become an increasingly vital ingredient in today's knowledge economy. The fact is, companies must strike a fine balance between protecting their intellectual property and encouraging open discourse with those outside their corporate walls. And with China's bold new entrance into the industrial spy game, that's not going to be easy. Where the Spies Are In a survey conducted by the American Society for Industrial Security, 1,300 American companies were asked to cite the foreign country that poses the greatest economic-espionage threat. Here is how they ranked (preliminary results): 1. China 2. Japan 3. France 4 . U.K. 5 . Canada - - -------- jhofmann@erols.com ========================================================================== This mailing list is for discussion of Clinton Administration Scandals. 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