Chinese-Born Loral Executive Focus of Congressional Investigators
WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, May 28) -- The leader of the Loral Space & Communications review team that gave China the controversial report allegedly containing missile technology information is now under investigation by congressional leaders.
Dr. Wah Lim chaired the panel charged with finding the cause of a 1996 Chinese rocket explosion. The rocket had been carrying a Loral commercial satellite. Now Rep. Gerald Solomon (R-N.Y.) wants to know more about the panel's decision to disclose the information to China as well as Lim's background.
A 22-item questionnaire Solomon sent to the Pentagon Wednesday asks for detailed information about Lim's security clearances. Solomon is particularly interested in finding out if Lim was denied high-level security clearance when he worked on the B-2 bomber for Northrop Grumman earlier in his career.
The questionnaire also asks if the White House played a role in approving a subsequent waiver that may have allowed Lim access to highly classified materials at Loral.
"Did any officials of Loral or the Executive Office of the
President have anything to do with the granting of a waiver for his
clearance?" Solomon asked.
Lim, a missile guidance technology expert and former executive for Loral, now works for with Hughes Electronics Corp.
As a four-year-old Lim fled China with his family to avoid communist persecution after the 1949 revolution. Educated at the University of Minnesota, he is now a U.S. citizen.
According to a congressional aide familiar with Solomon's inquiry, Lim's early security clearance denial was not unusual for an applicant with relatives in a country the U.S. considered a security risk.
Loral has said giving the Chinese the report of the explosion's causes before notifying U.S. officials was a violation of company policy by Lim's review panel.
Lim's attorney, George B. Newhouse, noted that the review team was technical in nature and did not include experts in export control laws and closer oversight from Loral might have been warranted.
Newhouse also rejects the idea that Lim's ethnicity means he is a security risk.
"To infer from his Chinese lineage that he somehow has sympathies to the Chinese communist regime is not only ludicrous it's outrageous. This man is as American as anyone," said Newhouse.
According to the Pentagon the report's disclosure to the Chinese harmed U.S.
national security because it included information that may improve China's long-range nuclear missiles. The Justice Department has begun an investigation into the matter.
Loral and Hughes, both of which were represented on the panel, deny they acted improperly and have disputed the allegation that sensitive information was released to the Chinese.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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