Abstract:
In October 1993, the CIA, in a four-paragraph assessment provided to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in response to written questions on proliferation threats of the 1990s, asserted that Israel has sold China advanced military equipment worth perhaps "several billion dollars" over the past ten years; US intelligence experts are increasingly concerned that China is attempting to use Israel as a conduit for the procurement of denied Western military technology. The assessment states that, "Building on a long history of close defense-industrial relations -- including work on China's next generation fighter, air-to-air missiles and tank programs...China and Israel appear to be moving to formalizing and broadening their military technical cooperation... Beijing probably hopes to tap Israeli expertise for cooperative development of military technologies, such as advanced tank power plants and airborne radar systems, that the Chinese would have difficulty producing on their own." The agency noted that _China_ and _Israel_ recently signed cooperation agreements to share technology in a number of areas, among them space and electronics.

The US General Accounting Office in an August 1993 report stated that, "No checks were performed to verify the end-use and destination of US provided items and technologies," sold to Israel for its Arrow ATBM program. Former CIA director Robert Gates said that Iran has received the majority of its ballistic and cruise missile technology and components from China. The CIA reports that Israel continues to sell military technology to China despite western concerns that China may re-export it to countries such as Pakistan and Iran [1]. Although the four-paragraph assessment made no mention of Israeli re-export of US technology, Israeli Embassy spokeswoman Ruth Yaron stated, "Israel adheres to all of its commitments to the United States with regard to its relationship with China" [1].

The actual amount of the sales is disputed; a Senate report released on 12 October 1993 estimates the amount at between $2 to $3 billion, while former State Department analyst Morton Miller says it is more like $8 to $10 billion [2]. Technology transferred includes the Python air-to-air missile [2]. The Chinese-Israeli relationship has been going on for a number of years, and Israeli technicians improved Chinese "Eastwind" ballistic missiles which were later sold to Saudi Arabia despite Israeli objections [2]. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin met with Chinese Premier Li Peng on 11 October 1993 in Beijing [3].

Supporting Sources:

[1] Michael R. Gordon, New York Times, 13 October 1993, p. A7, "Israel Sells China Arms, CIA Says."

[2] Patrick Cockburn, Independent, 13 October 1993, "Israel Accused Of Selling US Secrets To China."

[3] Washington Times, 12 October 1993, p. A10, "Israeli Arms Sale May Break US Rules."