Abstract:
Israel has illegally re-exported advanced US defense technology to China. The problem was first recognized in 1992 when the State Department's inspector general reported that there was "overwhelming" evidence of a "systematic and growing pattern" of transfers. Israel has been the primary supplier of advanced defense technology to China since 1989. China has received technologies from Israel that the United States and other Western countries have not been willing to supply. Known transfers of technology include the Lavi fighter, the J-10 airborne radar systems, tank programs, variety of missiles, STAR-1 cruise missile technology, and the most lethal air-to-air Python-4 missile. It is also suspected that Israel has provided China with surface-to-air missile technology. These transfers are a direct violation of the Arms Export Control Act (AECA), which states that sensitive US technology may not be re-exported to a third party without consent from the United States; nor may these re-exports be authorized if the United States does not export the technology on its own.

According to Secretary of Defense William Cohen, the United States is concerned about the re-export issue for two reasons. First, access to advanced US defense technology would both, threaten US forces in East Asia, and stability in the region. And second, given China's record of proliferation of sophisticated conventional weaponry and nuclear-weapons-related technology to Pakistan and Iran, US forces in the Persian Gulf and US allies in the Middle East would also be jeopardized. Adding to these concerns is the fact that neither Congress nor President Clinton are prepared to confront Israel on the issue.