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Lunar panda-huggers

Pentagon officials tell us they are concerned that a White House National Security Council (NSC) initiative to promote U.S. cooperation with China's space program will boost Chinese space arms, including anti-satellite weapons.

NSC Asian affairs director Dennis Wilder has promoted the initiative, first announced at the summit between President Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao last month. Mr. Wilder told reporters that as part of efforts to deepen U.S.-Chinese ties, the administration will send NASA Administrator Michael Griffin to China to discuss moon exploration and space-debris avoidance, and to seek information on Chinese space-sensor technology.

Critics of the cooperation are calling it "panda-hugging on the moon," a dig at pro-China officials such as Mr. Wilder who they say will naively boost China's military program through space cooperation. Mr. Wilder could not be reached for comment.

Past administrations have rejected space cooperation with China based on the late-1990s debacle of two U.S. companies, Loral and Hughes, improperly helping China's space launchers become more reliable through embargoed technology fixes. The Chinese launcher technology also was used to make China's ballistic missiles more reliable.

Beijing is building three new ICBMs — the DF-31, DF-31A and JL-2 — all of which can hit U.S. forces or territory and are thought by U.S. intelligence officials to have U.S. space technology incorporated in them.

The Pentagon's forthcoming annual report on Chinese military power, expected to be released in the next several weeks, will contain new information on China's secret strategic-weapons buildup and its anti-satellite weapons programs, highlighting the dangers of joint space cooperation.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, California Republican and senior member of the Science Committee, said he opposes the plan to send Mr. Griffin to China.

"It is mind-boggling that the administration would even consider cooperating with China on space or any other technological endeavor," Mr. Rohrabacher said.

"The People's Republic of China continues to hide its military buildup, oppress its people, violate international labor standards and do business with rogue regimes such as Iran and Sudan."