19 March 1999
TRANSCRIPT: PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT CLINTON, MARCH 19, 1999
(Discusses Kosovo, Bosnia, China) (10,320) On the question of alleged spying by China at U.S. nuclear laboratories, Clinton said he was not aware of any espionage during his time in office. "I am confident that we in the White House have done what we could to be aggressive about this," he said. If there was espionage against the United States in previous administrations, he said, "I will be very upset about it, as I have been every time there has been. And anybody who committed it ought to be punished, just as we went after Mr. (Aldrich) Ames, anybody else who committed espionage against the United States." He said that security "was too lax for years and years and years at the labs, and noted that "a lot of important changes have been made" including changes announced just March 18 by the U.S. Secretary of Energy. Clinton defended the administration's policy of engagement with China saying that the course he has followed with China "is the one that's best for America -- disagreeing where we have serious disagreements, pursuing our common interests where I thought it was in the interest of the United States." ............... Following is the White House transcript: (begin transcript) THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary March 19, 1999 PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE PRESIDENT The East Room 4:01 P.M. EST ................. Q: Mr. President, how long have you known that the Chinese were stealing our nuclear secrets? Is there any trust left between the two nations? And some Republicans are saying that you deliberately suppressed the information from the American people because of the election and your trade goals. CLINTON: Well, let me try to respond to all those things. First of all, the latter charge is simply untrue. We were notified -- Mr. Berger was notified sometime in 1996 of the possibility that security had been breached at the labs, the Energy Department labs where a lot of our nuclear work is done, in the mid-'80s -- not in the 1990s, but in the mid-'80s -- and that there was an investigation being undertaken by the FBI. Then, sometime in the middle of 1997, he was notified and I was notified that the extent of the security breach might have been quite extensive. So we had the CIA looking into that, the Energy Department looking into that, and the FBI investigation continued with the cooperation, the full cooperation of the Energy Department. In early 1998, I propounded a presidential directive designed to improve security at the labs. And as you know, Secretary Richardson's been talking quite a bit in recent days about what has been done since that directive was signed and what continues to be done today. Now, I think there are two questions here, that are related but ought to be kept separate. One is, was there a breach of security in the mid-'80s; if so, did it result in espionage? That has not been fully resolved, at least as of my latest briefing. The second is -- there are really three questions, excuse me -- the second is, once the Executive Branch was notified and the investigations began, was everything done in a timely fashion? I am confident that we in the White House have done what we could to be aggressive about this. Look, if there was espionage against the United States, I will be very upset about it, as I have been every time there has been. And anybody who committed it ought to be punished, just as we went after Mr. Ames, anybody else who committed espionage against the United States. In an effort to ensure that there was an independent review of this, in addition to whatever work is being done by the Senate and House committees -- who have, as you know, received more than a dozen briefings over the course of this investigation, going back to 1996 -- I have asked Senator Rudman, former Republican Senator from New Hampshire, and the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board to review the chronology, to make an assessment, and to make any recommendations about what further action also might need to be taken. So I believe that's the appropriate thing to do. Now, the third question is, what, if anything, does this mean about our relationship with China? I don't believe that we can afford to be under any illusions about our relationship with China, or any other country, for that matter, with whom we have both common interests and deep disagreements. I believe the course I have followed with China is the one that's best with America -- disagreeing where we have disagreements; pursuing our common interests where I thought it was in the interests of the United States. And again, let me say just one or two examples. I think if we hadn't been working with China, China would not have signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention. They would very likely not have refrained from transferring dangerous technology and weaponry to countries that we don't believe should get it. I doubt if they would have helped us as much as they have to try to contain the North Korean nuclear threat, or that we would have had the level of cooperation we had in trying to limit the Asian financial crisis, which is a serious economic and security problem for our country. And I think we should just take the facts as they come, and do what is best for the American people. But I can say categorically that it never crossed my mind that I should not disclose some inquiry being undertaken by the United States government for reasons of commercial or other gain. That is not true. I just think we should always pursue what is in the interest of the United States. And if we think we've got a security problem, we ought to fix it. Plainly, the security was too lax for years and years and years at the labs. And a lot of important changes have been made, and yesterday the Secretary of Energy announced some others. I think that if anybody did, in fact, commit espionage, it is a bad thing and we should take appropriate action. But in our dealings with China, we should do quite simply what is in the interest of the American people, and that's what I intend to do. Q: Mr. President, if I could follow up on this issue of alleged Chinese spying, you just said that according to your latest briefing, you've not fully resolved the issue of whether Chinese actually spied on the United States. Are you meaning to suggest that you're not certain at this hour whether there was, in fact, Chinese spying? You also said that you've had the full cooperation of the Energy Department. How do you explain, sir, then, that in April of 1997, the FBI made specific recommendations to the Department of Energy about the need to tighten security and those recommendations were not followed through on for 17 months? And, finally, sir, you mentioned the spying in the 1980s, or the alleged spying in the 1980s. Can you assure the American people that under your watch, no valuable nuclear secrets were lost? CLINTON: Well, you asked several questions there. Let me say, first of all, it's my understanding that the Energy Department has fully cooperated with the FBI in investigating the alleged breach in the mid-'80s, including the person who was suspected. That is my understanding. On the question of what recommendations were implemented by whom, when, that's what I've asked for the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board and Senator Rudman to review, to report to me on, as well as to make further recommendations. I can tell you that I have -- what I said about the espionage was that it is my understanding that the investigation has not yet determined for sure that espionage occurred. That does not mean that there was not a faulty security situation at the lab. The security procedures were too weak for years and years and years, for a very long time. And I believe that we are aggressively moving to correct that and a lot of changes have been made. I think Secretary Richardson has been quite vigorous in that regard. The chronology about who did what, when, I think it's more important to have an independent analysis of that, which is why I asked the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board to do that. Now, you asked me another question, which is can I tell you that there has been no espionage at the labs since I have been President. I can tell you that no one has reported to me that they suspect such a thing has occurred. .................. Q: We're jumping around a lot and I apologize, but I'd like to return to China for just a minute. Officials with your administration have said that China's size, it's so big, it's just difficult to ignore, that you can't just pretend they don't exist. But in terms of human rights, that merely underscores the magnitude of the problem. That's a billion people who don't have freedom of worship, freedom of the press, the right to peaceably assemble, the right to redress their government, the right to form their government. And you often talk about values when you talk about public policy. Does our relationship with China now reflect your values? CLINTON: I believe our policy toward China does. Our relationship is not perfect, but I think it is the correct course. First of all, I believe that the principal problem, human rights problem in China is the absence of political rights and the civil rights associated with them. There are some examples of religious -- denial of religious freedom. There's also a lot of religious expression there. You remember, I went to church in China, to a church that has regular services every week, whether we're there or not. And there is the special problem of Tibet, which I engaged President Ziang about in our press conference and on which we continue to work. So, to me, it's very important and we have to continue to press ahead on that. I think the question is, what is the best way for the United States to maximize the chances that China will become more open in terms of political and civil rights, that any vestiges of religious suppression will be dropped, that Tibet will have a chance as soon as possible to preserve its unique culture and identity -- and all these questions like that. And it seems to me that the best way to do it is to work with the Chinese where it's in our interest to do so, and to frankly and forthrightly state our differences where they exist. If we were to reach a point where we were convinced that no agreement we made ever would be kept, where no progress could ever be made, then I would ask the American people to reassess that. But I believe that the evidence is -- and I cited some specific examples earlier in this press conference -- the evidence is that the Chinese would like a constructive relationship with us. Keep in mind, the same sort of debate that's going on in this country, there is a mirror image of that debate going on in China today. And there are people in China that are not at a press conference, but they're saying, you know, the Americans cannot exist without an enemy; you know they've got to have an enemy, they've got to have somebody to dominate the world against; and what they really want to do is to contain us; they don't want us to flower economically; they don't want us to have influence, even if it's nonaggressive influence. And therefore, we need to build up our military. Therefore, we need to fight them at every turn. We need to oppose them at every turn. These sorts of debates are going on in their country. And what I have said to President Jiang, to Premier Zhu, to everyone who is involved on the trip -- and I look forward to the Premier's trip to the United States -- is that we still have to define what kind of future we're going to have, how we're going to share it, what is the proper arena for competition, what is the proper arena for cooperation. And we have to judge China as we would judge anyone else, and as we would expect to be judged by our actions. What you have here is a relationship that is profoundly important, very large and inherently frustrating because it has many different elements, some of which we like, some of which we don't. And it requires a constant evaluation to see whether we're on the right track, whether we're doing the right things, whether we're going in the right direction. And because it doesn't fit within neat or calming categories, it can be a source of difficulty. But I believe that I've done the right thing for America over the long run by trying to establish a positive but wide-open -- I mean eyes wide open -- with no illusions relationship with China where we explicitly put our differences on the table; where we pursue them to a point of resolution if possible; where we don't give up on what we believe if we can't resolve them; and where we do work on the things that we have in common. I believe this is the right thing to do. But it is inherently frustrating at the points of difference. Wendell, go ahead. Q: Mr. President, you said just a short while ago that no one has reported to you they suspect Chinese espionage at U.S. nuclear labs during your administration, sir. But sources tell Fox News, and we are reporting this evening, that China stole the technology for electromagnetic pulse weapons from several nuclear labs during your first term in office, sir, and that the Chinese have successfully tested these weapons in China. And the sources also say that the administration, at least, was aware of this. Can you tell us, sir, were you not personally aware? Are you concerned about this? And what will be your administration's response to the report? CLINTON: Well, you didn't say what the source of what they sold was. You say they "stole," is that the word you used? Q: Yes, sir, the technology for EMP weapons, from four of the 11 nuclear labs. CLINTON: To the best of my knowledge -- and, you know, I try to -- not only do I spend a great deal of time every day on national security measures, I try to prepare for these things. To the best of my knowledge, no one has said anything to me about any espionage which occurred by the Chinese against the labs during my presidency. I will -- if you report that, then I will do my best to find out what the facts are, and I'll tell you what they are. And if I have misstated this in any way because I don't remember something, then I will tell you that. But I don't believe that I have forgotten. .................. Thank you very much. (end transcript)
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