Posted on 01/09/2002 3:20:34 PM PST by TroutStalker
Edited on 04/22/2004 11:45:55 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
WASHINGTON -- Loral Space & Communications Ltd.'s Space Systems/Loral Inc. unit Wednesday agreed to pay a civil penalty of $14 million over seven years to settle charges by the U.S. State Department that the company passed sensitive missile technology to China.
(Excerpt) Read more at interactive.wsj.com ...
Still, the Bush administration could opt to continue delaying approval for the export of U.S. communications satellites to China out of concern about whether Beijing has done enough to curb sales of sensitive missile-related technology.
Projects that have been held up include Chinasat-8 and Apstar5 by Loral Space Systems, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service reported last year. Also, two satellites with U.S. components requiring U.S. authorization are Intelsat's APR-3 satellite from Astrium SAS of France and Italy's Alenia Spazio Atlantic-Bird-1 satellite, the research service said.
China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corp. bought Asiasat-8, valued at nearly $200 million, in 1998 with plans to launch it on a Long March rocket.
But before the launch could take place, a Republican-led House of Representatives panel concluded that China had used launches of U.S.-built satellites to steal data that could be used to fine-tune Red Army missile-firing capabilities.
In its most recent action, the Du Du % DI=?????1/2?? Defense Trade Controls stopped short of rejecting Loral's application. Instead, it returned it without action on Jan. 4, 2001, two weeks before Bill Clinton left the White House.
In a federal filing on Wednesday, the company said that the cost of the fine, about 4 cents per share, would be reflected in its fourth quarter results.
Loral shares closed on Wednesday trading down 16 cents, or 5.1 percent, at $2.98 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Last year, Schwartz argued that tighter export controls triggered by fears of Chinese espionage were crippling the U.S. satellite industry and undermining U.S. technological supremacy at a time of fierce global competition.
``I do believe that American industry has been damaged,'' he said, noting that the U.S. share of commercial satellite orders worldwide had fallen below 50 percent last year for the first time.
In the two years since Congress tightened export curbs on commercial satellites, the U.S. share of the global market has plunged to 45 percent from an average of 75 percent during the previous 10 years, the Satellite Industry Association, a trade group, reported last year.
Loral's top two U.S. competitors -- Hughes Electronics Corp.'s satellite manufacturing unit, now owned by Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA - news), and Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT - news) -- have also been charged with violations of export control rules, charges they have denied.
The new regime has no reason to drag this out into the light.
Similar story with McDonnell-Douglas. Employees who tried to prevent the Chinese from touring plants and buying machines were disciplined up to the point of being arrested.
As with Loral, the new admin. let Mc-D off with a fine and life went on.
When you arrest the higher ups and throw them in prison for doing what the previous administration told them to do you get a lot of Gerald Bull's floating around.
Right, but is the current administration that is giving this slap on the wrist and letting them get away with it.
Loral also was informed the Justice Department has terminated its investigation of Space Systems/Loral relating to this matter.
Better tell your buddies Bush/Ashcroft. They're the ones letting them off the hook.
The cost of their actions to this country will be billions of dollars and thousands, if not millions, of technical man hours. This is required to counteract their treasonus acts.
Loral should be barred from doing business with the United States indefinitely. Their clearances on all existing projects should be cancelled, and their access to classified materials be prohibited.
Doing its job? It is such attitudes that allows those who commit such treasons acts to get away with them with only a limp slap on the wrist.
Who got away with what? It cost Loral $14 million according to the headline. You JW groupies are so duplicitous.
What seems to have escaped you is that in exchange for the PALTRY sum of $14 million dollars (keep in mind that the CEO of Loral gave the DNC over HALF A MILLION dollars IN JUST ONE YEAR), the Ashcroft Justice Department agreed not to pursue any CRIMINAL actions against Loral (for little things ... like TREASON). I call that aiding and abetting.
Of course, yours was EXACTLY the response I expected from Move-On'ers. Just wanted to get it on RECORD so that next time you PRETEND to be a law and order conservative, we can demonstrate YOUR "duplicity".
And by the way, are you still claiming that Ron Brown's body was autopsied? Or are you finally willing to admit that is untrue?
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