http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/11332057.htm BY PABLO BACHELET April 07, 2005 WASHINGTON - U.S. officials said Wednesday there is no evidence that China is seeking to boost its military presence in Latin America, but for the first time warned about Chinese intentions to establish an intelligence and cyberwarfare beachhead in the region. Roger Noriega, assistant secretary of state for Latin America, and Rogelio Pardo-Maurer, the top Defense Department official for the Western Hemisphere, testified before a House panel as several legislators argued that China is trying to fill the void left by the lack of U.S. involvement in the region. Noriega and Pardo-Maurer said China's interests in Latin America were mostly on the economic side, but warned that Beijing could also have an intelligence agenda as it increased trade with Latin America. ''There is no evidence of Chinese interest in establishing a continuous military presence in the region,'' Pardo-Maurer said. Gen. Bantz Craddock, head of the Pentagon's Miami-based Southern Command, told Congress last month that Chinese defense officials made 20 visits to Latin America and the Caribbean last year, while defense delegations from nine Latin American nations visited China. Pardo-Maurer added that Chinese military activity, including the sale of weapons, did not ``pose a direct conventional threat to the United States or its friends and allies.'' ''However, we need to be alert to rapidly advancing Chinese capabilities, particularly in the fields of intelligence, communications and cyberwarfare, and their possible application in the region,'' he told the Western Hemisphere subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee. The Bush administration wants other nations in the hemisphere to ''take a close look at how such activities could possibly be used against them or the United States,'' he added. DIRECT WARNING This is the first time that a senior Pentagon official warned so directly about Chinese cyberwarfare capabilities in the region. Some U.S. officials have previously and privately expressed concern that Chinese personnel may be working at an electronic listening post in Bejucal, Cuba, believed to be also capable of carrying out cyberwarfare operations. Pardo-Maurer would not elaborate during the House panel's public hearing, and offered to brief members in a classified session. But a U.S. official who requested anonymity said the Bush administration was concerned that Latin American nations could wittingly or unwittingly end up hosting Chinese communications facilities that seek to harm the United States. ''We know that China . . . has made a top priority of this knowledge-based warfare,'' the official said, adding that as Latin American countries tighten links with China, some 'may be tempted to think that, `well, we can get away with letting China do these things here.' '' REACHING OUT? Several members of Congress from both parties expressed concern that China is reaching out to Latin America's left-leaning leaders and in the process diminishing U.S. influence in the area. ''If we are not careful, Beijing's influence could easily unravel the region's hard-won, U.S.-backed reforms to fight against corruption, human rights abuses, increase government transparency and combat intellectual property violations,'' said Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind., who chairs the Western Hemisphere subcommittee. But Noriega also noted that despite recent inroads, China's weight in Latin America was still dwarfed by U.S. influence in the region, in both military and economic terms. Besides the need for raw materials, China wants to lessen its isolation in the world, ''pursue defense and intelligence opportunities'' and isolate Taiwan, which is recognized by 12 Latin American nations, Noriega said. _________________________________________ Network Security - http://www.auditmypc.com Free vulnerability test - How secure is your computer?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Fri Apr 08 2005 - 01:55:41 PDT