Disarmament Diplomacy

Issue No. 17, July - August 1997

China Denies Military Use of Supercomputers

On 3 July, a spokesperson from China's Foreign Ministry reacted angrily to reports that China had diverted supercomputers purchased from the US from civil to military use. Describing reports in The Washington Post as "fabrication," Tang Guoqiang stated:

"The Chinese side has bought through normal trade channels some large computers from the US for...use in meteorological forecasting, earthquake disaster prevention and...other scientific and research areas... This is completely normal business activity, the Chinese side has not violated the agreements reached [with the US] concerning...aspects of export controls..."

Report: China denies diverting computers to military use, Kyodo News International News Wire, 3 July.

Return to top of page

Return to List of Contents

Return to Acronym Main Page