Eh, there actually was some technology transfer under Clinton. It was “dual-use” technology that got defined as “commercial” to enable sales.
However, people need to keep in mind that there was explicit military tech transfer under Reagan and Bush I (including direct sale of weapons like lightweight torpedoes). Of course, at the time China was an ally against the Soviet Union.
The problem is that people exaggerate the tech transfer that did take place, to give the impression that the Chinese would be armed with sticks and rocks today were it not for Bill Clinton. Totally not the case.
In terms of military technology that was overtly sold to China and not stolen through espionage, the overwhelming majority of Chinese military tech is Russian; quite a lot is French, and a decent amount is Israeli, and there’s more of each than what was explicitly given to China by the US.
Also it needs to be kept in mind that the Chinese have had the ability to put multi-megaton ICBMs on US cities since the early Reagan adminstration; that capability was not the result of what the Clintons gave them.
Washington Post 5/25/99 Juliet Eilperin and Vernon Loeb Page A01 "...As for stolen U.S. military technology, the committee reports that China has stolen guidance technology now being used in U.S. missiles and fighter aircraft, including the F-14, F-15, F-16 and F-117 fighter jets. The committee concludes that this guidance technology is of enormous value to China in its development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and short-range CSS-6 missiles, which China test-fired over Taiwan's main ports in 1996. The committee, which began its probe last July by focusing on missile and satellite technology transfers, concludes that U.S. satellite manufacturers gave China missile design information without obtaining required U.S. government licenses that enabled Chinese engineers to improve the reliability of Chinese rockets used for commercial and military purposes. The committee concludes that Hughes Electronics Corp. and Loral Space & Communications passed sensitive technical information to China as part of a 1996 investigation into the failure of a Chinese Long March rocket carrying a Loral-built commercial satellite without an export license, even though both companies knew they needed a license.... Loral's chief executive officer, Bernard Schwartz, was the Democratic Party's largest single donor in 1996. C. Michael Armstrong, Hughes's chief executive from 1994 to 1997, strongly lobbied for the Clinton administration's March 1996 transfer of licensing authority over commercial satellites from the State Department, known for its focus on national security concerns, to the Commerce Department, with its emphasis on promoting U.S. exports. ...."
Excellent points...
Also it needs to be kept in mind that the Chinese have had the ability to put multi-megaton ICBMs on US cities since the early Reagan adminstration; that capability was not the result of what the Clintons gave them.
Really? And you know that how?