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VIII. Criticism of the Cox Report From the Media and Experts Worldwide

After it was released, the Cox Report has been criticized by the media as well as experts and scholars in some countries, including the United States, for its elements of fantasy and absurdity.

--The New York Times of the United States said on May 25 that the facts stressed in the Cox Report were too fantastic and complicated. The conclusion of the report was arbitrary. Without hard answers and without a suspect under arrest, the case is like a thriller missing its final pages, it said.

--Suddeutsche Zeitung, a German newspaper, said on May 25 that the Cox Report asked more questions than it answered and had more accusations than explanations.

--Mainichi Shimbun of Japan said on May 28 that the Cox Report did not provide any conclusive proof of China's "theft" of technologies. Instead, it mostly used such vague terms as "probably" or "seemingly".

--Lyndon H. LaRouche, founder of the Executive Intelligence Review, said in a statement published on June 2 that the Cox Report was a fraud. Its accusation of the so-called Chinese "theft of nuclear secrets" was sheer fabrication. The fraud of the Cox Report is "a reflection of the kind of scientific illiteracy'' of its writers. LaRouche said that the so-called "nuclear secrets" were easily obtainable from the Internet, but the Cox Committee spent a great sum of money in investigating these false charges, which was simply "too ridiculous". LaRouche went on to point out that the clear purpose of the Cox committee was to undermine US-China relations.

--The ABC News of the United States said in a story headlined Errors Mar Cox Report that there are many amazing de facto mistakes. Mistakes range from substantial misrepresentation of Chinese aerospace technology to minor errors in dates and hardware designations. This makes people wonder how credible the Cox Report is: Are these erroneous facts the basis for the report's conclusion?

--Joseph Cirincione, expert with the US Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said the Cox Report "lacks basic support", and "is purely a propaganda work". It was the "least convincing'' investigation report he had ever seen. He thought the report required the US Government to tighten up supervision and administration over the export of sensitive technologies and equipment, such as satellites and super computers, to China. This could be very difficult to operate as it would arouse complaints from commercial interest groups.

--Frankfurter Fundschau, a German newspaper, said on May 25 that many US politicians "are now keenly looking for a new evil empire". Delivering such a report aims at attacking the existing China policy of the United States instead of finding the truth.

--Hong Kong Standard said on May 30 that what the Americans were shouting at and flailing against was merely their hallucination of China's shadow. It said that there were not many people in the West, and even less in the East, who treated the Cox Report seriously. It stated that the Cox Report lashed the US Government's China policy on the one hand, and directed its target of attack to China on the other.

--The Los Angeles Times reported on May 30 that Robert Norris, a military expert, had criticized the Cox Report sharply. He thought the impression created by the report was that each of China's weaponry achievements was gained by espionage, instead of from scientific and technical journals or academic conferences. In fact, large quantities of technical information can be gained from openly published publications either in China or anywhere else. Scientific secrets are not absolute, and are not the property of any country, he said.

The Cox Report, running to nearly 900 pages, lists many data, which are either intentionally fabricated or painstakingly distorted. Although it can whip up public opinion and hoodwink some people for a while, it cannot do so for long. For a period of time, some politicians in the United States have clung on to the out-dated Cold War mentality, and made an issue out of Sino-US relations by stirring up an anti-China mood to reap political profit. Years of practice have proved that the healthy development of Sino-US relations coincide with the fundamental interests of the peoples of the two countries. Some US politicians try hard to undermine Sino-US relations by fabricating lies, which is really dishonorable. But, it is impossible for them to succeed.




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