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AvWeek: Chinese Downplay Report That Jiang's 767 Was Bugged


By Michael Mecham and David A. Fulghum/Aviation Week & Space Technology

28-Jan-2002 11:06 AM U.S. EST



A month before President George W. Bush is to visit President Jiang Zemin
in Beijing, the Chinese Foreign Ministry is taking a
see-no-evil/speak-no-evil approach to allegations that somebody in the
U.S. bugged a Boeing 767-300ER outfitted last year as a presidential
transport for Jiang.


News of the apparent bugging, which was reported Jan. 18 on Aviation
Week's AviationNow.com, entered the rumor mill in Beijing after routine
tests of the aircraft revealed the devices last October, officials
familiar with the situation said.


But Chinese reluctance to complain kept a lid on it, at least in official
circles. Despite the time lapse since the bugs were reportedly found,
Secretary of State Colin Powell said the Chinese have never raised the
issue and he doesn't expect it to interfere with plans for Bush to visit
China on the 30th anniversary of President Nixon's historic trip that
reopened relations between the two countries after decades of mistrust.


LAST WEEK, CHINESE Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said the episode
would not affect Sino-U.S. relations. Other than hearing reports, Sun
said, "I don't know what it is about. The Chinese Foreign Ministry is not
apprised of the specific situation." White House officials said they don't
discuss such allegations.


It's unclear how the "bugs" were uncovered, but various news reports said
that up to 27 transmitters were found, including in Jiang's lavatory, in
the headboard of his bed, and in a Rockwell Collins SAT 906 satellite
communications device. A Rockwell Collins official said a satcom is
buyer-furnished equipment; late last week the company was still checking
what equipment it might have had on board the aircraft. Exactly how
signals might be transmitted also is unclear. The aircraft itself is a
good shield of internal emissions. They could be sent through the
aircraft's satcom system, providing a power source and an antenna were
tapped, but that raises the question of how to mask the transmissions so
that others could not detect them.


The aircraft was part of an order for Delta Air Lines, Boeing's largest
767 operator, and was delivered June 15, 2000, but never put in service.
Instead, on July 7, 2000, Delta informed Boeing that it had sold the
aircraft to state-owned China United Airlines (CUA) in Beijing. The
refurbishment contract was signed Oct. 1, 2000, and was conducted even as
the U.S. and China were at loggerheads over the forced landing of a U.S.
Navy EP-3E signals intelligence aircraft last April. The aircraft left
Texas on Aug. 10, 2001, for China via Hawaii, according to U.S. officials
involved in the project.


CUA contracted with Avitra Aviation Services Ltd. of Singapore to
customize its interior; Avitra, in turn, subcontracted work to Decrane
Corp., Gore Design Completion Ltd. and Dee Howard Aircraft Maintenance Co.
to prepare the aircraft at San Antonio International Airport. Avionics
were installed separately under a Chinese government contract.


In a statement, Gore Design and Dee Howard said the Chinese have not
complained to them. Gore and Avitra officials doubted that any security
breach had occurred while their work was underway.


The guessing game as to who did what extended to China, as well. Analysts
suggested that conservatives in the Chinese military might be behind the
episode as a way to embarrass Jiang or to intimidate whoever succeeds him.
He is due to step down as president and head of the Communist Party this
year, but would stay on as a "paramount" leader and remain chairman of the
powerful Central Military Commission.


The aircraft was said to have been kept under round-the-clock security by
Avitra, Howard and Chinese government security, according to U.S.
officials involved in the project. But an official familiar with such
arrangements said that may not mean much. He said security personnel would
have to be expert in all aspects of aircraft systems to even recognize if
listening or transmitting devices were being installed. Second, since
special-purpose outfitting jobs take months to complete, it's easy for
security personnel to lose their vigilance.


Indeed, various news reports said up to 26 Chinese military and civilian
officials have been detained on suspicion of negligence and corruption in
the incident. The references to civilian officials prompted an indignant
response from the Civil Aviation Administration of China that no one from
its China Aviation Supplies Export & Import Corp. subsidiary was involved.
CASC most likely would have been the agency responsible for importing the
aircraft.


AFTER THE EP-3 downing, the strained relations between the two countries
spilled over into commercial aircraft orders as the CAAC held back
approval of the acquisition of Boeing transports.


The ice thawed late last year when CASC bought 30 737s. The CAAC and
Boeing are said to be discussing a larger order. China often announces
large orders when heads of state visit.


William Dennis in Kuala Lumpur and Bruce D. Nordwall and Philip J. Klass
in Washington contributed to this report



=====
Chris Clark
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