MIKE MOORE
Editor of The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Moore said: “What the Chinese are doing is developing a survivable second-strike force — that is the ability to respond if they are attacked. To do this, they need to miniaturize their nuclear warheads to fit them on mobile missiles. To do that, you need to do a lot of nuclear testing, which the U.S. and others have done, but the Chinese have not. So, instead, they may have stolen some of the data.”
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LISBETH GRONLUND
Senior staff scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists and research fellow at MIT’s security studies program, Gronlund said: “We need some perspective on this… China has less than two-dozen warheads that can reach the U.S., while the U.S. has thousands that can reach China… One of the things that the Chinese are concerned about is the credibility of their nuclear deterrent, particularly with all the talk in the U.S. of building national missile defense — which China sees as targeted at China.”

SAM DAY
Day was managing editor of The Progressive magazine when it was taken to court by the government for publishing an article, “The H-Bomb Secret,” which challenged nuclear weapons secrecy. Today he said: “The notion that the Chinese have stolen vital nuclear information is obviously not true and is part of an agenda on the part of people who seek to embarrass the administration and to invent new enemies to replace the Soviet Union.”

JAY TRUMAN
Director of Downwinders, Truman said: “I find it very hypocritical for us to — a year ago — complain about the Indians and Pakistanis developing nuclear weapons while we aided the Chinese in developing theirs. Meanwhile, we have insisted on developing deadlier nuclear weapons. Real leadership would be in stopping — not pushing — the arms race. This is reminiscent of when the U.S. helped the Soviets use nuclear explosions for so-called ‘peaceful’ purposes, but the real goal was to undermine efforts for a test ban.”
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STEVEN AFTERGOOD
Research analyst at the Federation of American Scientists, Aftergood said: “The tone of the discussion has far outpaced the available facts. The Cox Report claims that Chinese nuclear technology is ‘on a par’ with the United States. That is manifestly untrue.”
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ROBERT WEIL
Author of Red Cat, White Cat: China and the Contradictions of ‘Market Socialism’, Weil said: “China has consistently called for universal nuclear disarmament and a pledge of no-first-use of such weapons, positions that the U.S. rejects… It is the U.S., not China, that maintains the largest spy agencies in the world and is the one that is launching missiles at various countries — including being at least careless enough to hit the Chinese embassy in Belgrade.”

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy: Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; David Zupan, (541) 484-9167