Stealth Invasion - Red Chinese Operations in North America
[can anyone say, Li Ka-Shing here]
Category:
[Note:
This article, authored and circulated by Richard A. Delgaudio and Dr.
Roger Canfield, 10560 Main St., Suite 217, Fairfax, VA 22030 (no
telephone number given) is being scanned and reformatted in preparation
for the Internet for three very good reasons: (1) This article overlaps
in content an article I had written in 1995 entitled The Problems With Ezekiel 38 And 39; The Prophetic Attack Of Russia On The United States.
In that article, I included China along with Russia, and I had no
knowledge, nor did I personally know that Richard A. Delgaudio and Dr.
Roger Canfield existed. Nor, evidently did they have any knowledge of me
or what I had written on the subject. (2) Because their and my essays
are so closely intertwined, I saw the need to do a critical review (that
is, constructive critical review) to give the serious researcher a
clearer picture of the subject material. Richard A. Delgaudio and Dr.
Roger Canfield addressed the subject from a patriotic perspective, while
I address the subject from a Biblical perspective. It should be pointed
out that they and I were doing our researches at approximately at the
same time. Therefore, I would recommend the serious student read and
compare both their and my essays. (3) Because both their and my themes
were written about 15 years ago, I would recommend the serious
researcher critique their and my essays, and then search the Internet
(or other written or voice data) and bring the subject up-to-date. Key
words and phrases are supplied at the end of this paper. One other thing
that I have done, is to edit in the full designations of the
abbreviations for the convenience of the reader, and other minor
changes. C.A.E.]
INTRODUCTION
I
first met Dr. Roger Canfield as the author of a comprehensive study of
Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden, leaders of the New Left and cheerleaders of
America’s enemies in Viet Nam. Since then Dr. Canfield and I have worked
together on many conservative causes. Dr. Canfield is uncompromising on
his principles and the truth. His research is always relentless and
thorough. His writing clear and forceful.
In
the last two years, Dr. Canfield has meticulously researched and
written three eye-opening monographs on the subject of Red China’s war
against the West: one the groundbreaking What Red China Got for Its Money (Why Did the People’s Republic of China Invest in the 1996 Reelection Campaign of President Bill Clinton?), China Traders (Assessing
the Legacy of Clinton-Gore’s Appeasement Policy: U.S. National Security
at Risk), and this publication. In addition, he co-authored with me the
widely distributed book, China Doll: CIinton, Gore and the Selling of the U.S. Presidency (more than 700,000 in print).
This
report sketches the high points of his truly original research into the
nearly 100-ship presence of the merchant marine of the People’s
Liberation Army – the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO). Dr. Canfield
has found this agent of Beijing active in all major seaports serving
North America, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland; Portland
Vancouver Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver B.C., New Orleans, Houston,
Miami, Charleston Norfolk, Baltimore, New York-New Jersey, Halifax, Nova
Scotia, and Panama City, Panama. His exhaustive research of open public
sources and previously released classified materials integrate Chinese
and U.S. web pages, local business journals, government documents, local
newspapers. Dr. Canfield has also visited several of these ports, in
particular he was the co-host of the 2000 and 2001 missions to Panama
with me, seeing firsthand how Red China has seized control of the
strategic entrances and exits of the Panama Canal on both the Pacific
and Atlantic Coasts
As
a former U.S. Navy officer, Ph.D. political scientist, professor of
international relations, longtime political and policy analyst and a
grass roots organizer, Dr. Canfield has a realist’s view of the world.
His intellect is sharpened by military and political experience.
After
reading this report few will doubt that the presence of nearly 100
ships of Red China’s merchant marine and millions of unopened,
uninspected containers entering America is a clear and present danger to
American lives and property on our home shores. Most will also conclude
that rather routine security measures – not the Draconian grab for
power of Clinton Presidential Directives #62 (terrorism) and #63
(infrastructure protection) – will be sufficient to greatly reduce such
risks without harming civil liberty
Richard A. Delgaudio
Fairfax, Virginia
May 2001
Chapter 1
Red China’s ‘Trojan Horse’
It
is less noticed than Red Chinese Generals sipping wine and eating tiny
sandwiches in military exchanges at Harvard and at the Clinton White
House. Though occurring in broad daylight and in morning fog every day
of the year, it is a“stealth invasion” of America’s shores at every major American seaport on the West, Gulf, and East Coasts.
The
invasion force is A fleet of Red Chinese ships, the merchant marine of
the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), delivering millions of cargo
containers of unknown content into the strategic waters of the U.S.
every year. The sloppy security that killed 17 and injured 39 sailors on
board the U.S.S Cole is worse in U.S. homeports. Millions of Americans
are today in harm’s way on their own soil.
Red
Chinese vessels call unnoticed and uninspected. Usually the China Ocean
Shipping Company (COSCO) and its shadow, the Orient Overseas Container
Line (OOCL) follow the rules and fill out the paperwork. Instances of
smuggling guns, drugs, technology, prostitutes, and labor are rare and
seldom reported.
School
children were once told the story of the wooden Trojan horse built by
the Greeks to smuggle soldiers inside the walls of Troy. Today no one
talks of the millions of sealed containers aboard Red Chinese ships, let
alone their cross-continental distribution by railcar and truck trailer
to every town in America. Only 2 percent are physically checked for
contents. An occasional story of drugs or human cargo makes the news.
The high vulnerability of U.S. seaports to espionage and terrorism is
seldom suspected and virtually never investigated.
Exposing the COSCO Threat
As
opponent of the China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) takeover of the
Long Beach Naval Station, the U.S. Intelligence Council has long taken a
particular interest in the security of U.S. seaports and home-ported
Naval forces. The successful terror attack upon the U.S.S Cole has
renewed USIC concerns – unfortunately in the blood of sailors and in the
tears of families.
In
1997 Senator John McCain questioned the national security implications
of awarding a $157 million contract between the China Ocean Shipping
Company (COSCO) and a Mobile, Alabama, shipbuilder. Yet several federal
authorities told Congress that “COSCO (the China Ocean Shipping Company)
represents no threat to our national security.” Maritime Commission
Chairman Harold J. Creel also denied any threat, but testified.
that China the Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) engaged in bribes,
kickbacks, and predatory pricing. “They are not profit-driven,” he said.
“They want to have their flag and their name on their ships.”
Since
COSCO is not driven by profits and is interested in flying the Red
Chinese flag, it is clearly an agent of its master – The People’s
Liberation Army (PLA) - and it is an everyday available instrument of
the military objectives of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Indeed,
the The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has forward deployed about 100
of its COSCO, the (China Ocean Shipping Company) into the waters of the
U.S.A.
One
of COSCO’s (the China Ocean Shipping Companie’s) potential threats is
its commingling with U.S. Navy ships within the waterways and
chokepoints of strategic U.S. seaports. Since men and women of the U.S.S
Cole are dead and injured because of a mere rubber dinghy, it is
prudent to watch the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) deployment of
COSCO’s, the (China Ocean Shipping Companie’s) worldwide fleet of 600
vessels. It is rational and reasonable to improve security measures for
vessels, facilities and citizens at American seaports where COSCO (the
China Ocean Shipping Company) calls. Soon after the Cole disaster,
Dateline found it easy to move vessels amidst U.S. warships.
Other Threads of Beijing’s Web
In
addition to COSCO the (China Ocean Shipping Company), USIC (the United
States Intelligence Community) recommends that U.S. intelligence and law
enforcement agencies add the Beijing-dependent, Tung family-owned
Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL) to its watch list.
USIC
(the United States Intelligence Community) also wishes to alert
authorities of the presence of Beijing-tied Li Ka-shing enterprises in
the waterways of Vancouver (BC)-Seattle-Tacoma where the U.S. Navy
homeports major submarine and destroyer forces and one aircraft carrier.
USIC (the United States Intelligence Community) also recommends
heightened security in those ports where Chinese commercial vessels –
both COSCO the (China Ocean Shipping Company) and OOCL (Orient Overseas
Container Line) – commingle with the naval forces of the U.S. Navy,
particularly in Seattle-Tacoma, Charleston, Norfolk, and Long Island
Sound. USIC (the United States Intelligence Community) seeks measures to
protect national security from COSCO the (China Ocean Shipping Company)
and other PRC (People’s Republic of China) “front” companies such as
Orient Overseas and Hutchison Whampoa.
Chapter 2
America’s Achilles Heel: Poor Port Security
The
little advertised, but long-named federal commission – the Interagency
Commission on Crime and Security at U.S. Seaports – in the fall of 2000
completed an obtuse report that ploddingly revealed shocking evidence of
rampant crime, corruption, and sloth on security issues at major
American seaports.
The
Interagency Commission made on-site surveys of 12 seaports, of which
seven – Charleston, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New
York/New Jersey and Tacoma – interest U.S.IC (the United States
Intelligence Community) because of COSCO’s the (China Ocean Shipping
Companie’s) presence in those ports. In addition to these, this U.S.IC
(the United States Intelligence Community) report covers seaports in
Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, New Orleans, Houston, Savannah, Norfolk,
Halifax, and Baltimore, where COSCO the (China Ocean Shipping Company)
and often OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line) offer shipping services.
After
conducting its investigation, the commission reached the alarming
conclusion that the state of security in this dozen major American
seaports “ranges from poor to fair.”
An
independent FBI study reached a similar conclusion, ranking the
vulnerability of our top 12 seaports to terrorist attack as “high.” The
Bureau’s report adds that “such an attack has the potential to cause
significant damage.”
Indeed,
only two percent of all trade cargo is physically inspected despite
widespread evidence of inaccurate or misleading paperwork.
There
is no excuse for this terrible lack of even the most rudimentary
security precautions at the seaports and in waterways of the United
States. This is a matter of great import to our nation’s security and
economic interests and the failures of local and federal governments to
have basic security safeguards in place are appalling.
Poor or fair security is unwarranted given the importance of seaports to our national security and economic vitality:
• The
U.S. Navy, Marine, Army or Air Force has facilities within the five of
the 12 ports surveyed by the Interagency Commission on Crime and
Security at U.S. Seaports.
• Of
the 13 seaports with additional obligations to be ready for a national
military mobilization in a war or a crisis, the Interagency Commission
studied four and found them all wanting in adequate security for a
mobilization, lacking readiness exercises, and having incomplete
vulnerability/threat assessments.
• Nine of 12 ports had “no waterside security measures” to protect from foreign vessels.
• Nine of 12 ports could be blocked at only one to three chokepoints.
• “... U.S. seaports have become critical chokepoints for future military mobilizations ... [for overseas operations].”
Rampant Crime on Our Waterfronts
While
concerns for espionage or terrorism at seaports goes unaddressed,
knowledge of crime waves on America’s waterfronts has been known for
perhaps a century. Massive underreported crime is known, but runs
rampant on U.S. waterfronts.
Organized
crime has little difficulty stealing cargoes or smuggling drugs or
human beings. The Interagency Commission reported that organized crime
is concealing drugs in cargoes at nine of the 12 ports it investigated.
The Commission found that only three of 12 ports use modern technology
to identify contraband or to verify shipments – in suspicious cases
only.
Criminally
organized alien smuggling is common on the West Coast. Alien stowaways
were found in 10 of 12 ports. “Immigration has no way of knowing whether
manifested crews actually leave on the ship they arrive on ... or
remain illegally in the United States.” The CIA reported that about
50,000 women and children are lured to America annually and forced to
work as abused laborers, servants and prostitutes, according to the New
York Times. Some had arrived from China in COSCO (China Ocean Shipping
Company) containers.
These
vulnerabilities to crime are well known and their implications for
organized espionage and terrorism ought to be transparent. The Royal
Canadian Mounted Police, in their long-suppressed “Sidewinder” report,
reveal intimate ties between the Chinese Triads (gangs) and the
Communist PRC (People’s Republic of China). Clearly, American ports are
open to theft of technology and destruction of human life and property
and vital infrastructures.
In
contrast to these street crimes, there is near total silence and little
apparent action to explore vulnerability to espionage – export of
militarily valuable technology – or to terrorism.
Terrorism by the Shipload
Prior
to the loss of 17 lives aboard a poorly secured U.S.S Cole, the FBI
told the Interagency Commission that the vulnerability of U.S. seaports
to terrorist attacks was high, but said the terrorist threat was low. In
other words, attacks upon U,S. ports were entirely in the hands of
America’s enemies who could choose the times and places of their attacks
as long as our ports did nothing about their high vulnerability.
Eleven
of 12 ports are located in urban areas where millions of innocent lives
are in harm’s way and where vital infrastructures (ports, roads, rail,
telecommunications, water, electricity) are vulnerable to attack.
Nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons – with or without missiles –
might be secreted among the millions of cargo containers delivered to
American ports on Red Chinese ships. Typically, ports lack basic
intelligence information about terroristthreats provided to others.
“Increasing
awareness of security-related threats among port facilities ... and
expanding the availability of threat information ... would do much to
alleviate this problem .... The federal government should establish
baseline vulnerability and threat assessment for terrorism at U.S.
Seaports.”
The
Interagency Commission said none of the dozen ports met “the minimum
port security criteria.” Only a third had barriers to halt or slow down a
terrorist driving through fences. Half had “nonsecure” communications.
With the exception of lighting and gates in most ports, persons and
vehicles had easy physical access to most ports. Foreign sailors and
domestic workers roam freely. Except for paper forms, foreign cargo is
handled no differently than cargo from Kansas. It is inspected alongside
domestic cargo in every port.
Smuggling Out U. S. Technology
“Seaports
are vulnerable to those trying to acquire ... weapons, munitions, and
critical technology [that] affect national security.” Federal inspectors
working in remote locations spend more time behind computer terminals
than on the docks. “The [Customs and Commerce] inspection and criminal
investigation personnel ... devoted to export transactions are only a
small fraction of those devoted to imports ....” Shipper’s Export
Documents, SEDs, delivered as late as four days after a ship leaves port
typically contain inaccurate, vague, misleading or false information.
No
wonder that over two years (1996-98) in the 12 ports, the Commission
reported only 296 offenses, 26 arrests, and 323 seizures valued at $33
million. “... [F]ederal agencies are probably detecting only a small
portion of the controlled commodities that are being exported
illegally,” said the Commission. There is no criminal statute for
illegal exports.
The
unstated policy of local ports is perhaps “Don’t Ask,” and the policy
of intelligence agencies is “Don’t tell.” Our seaports are unaware of
most security threats. The FBI, CIA, Customs, Coast Guard, local police
and sheriff’s office tells them little or nothing about possible
security threats. Our seaports are not ready for prime time, not
prepared for attacks like that on the U.S.S Cole.
Nobody
is looking. USIC (the United States Intelligence Community) urges the
President, the Congress, and other government agencies to do their jobs
defending national security. “Don’t know and don’t tell” is a dangerous
policy of willful blindness. Our highly vulnerable seaports are open to
Red Chinese vessels every day in every port.
U.S. Customs Asleep on the Docks?
The
U.S. Customs Service is responsible for border enforcement having
authority to search any shipment that crosses the U.S. border. One duty
of the Customs Service is to cooperate with the State Department’s
Office of Defense Trade Controls in conducting end-use checks of
exports. The State Department sets criteria, but Customs carries them
out. Despite the congressional Cox report and other intelligence agency
evidence, during the entire Clintan-Gore administration U.S. Customs
Service indicted only one PRC (People’s Republic of China) entity for
violating U.S. export laws. CATIC – the China Aero Technology Import and
Export Corporation – was indicted for using U.S. B-1 and missile
machine tools from McDonnell Douglas to manufacture military aircraft
and silkworm missiles in Nanchang. [U.S. Customs Today, January 2000].
Meanwhile, Customs devoted considerable resources to interdicting
imports of drugs, child pornography, counterfeit clothing, bootleg
software and forced labor goods.
Customs
“discrepancy” statistics show China very faithfully following Customs’
rules and regulations for processing paperwork. COSCO (China Ocean
Shipping Company) virtually never appears in U.S. daily newspapers,
seldom in business journals, and infrequently in U.S. port websites.
COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) is virtually always below the radar
screen. This stealth company quietly dominates container cargo ports
throughout the U.S. COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) does not draw
attention to itself its routine commerce in the U.S.
Though
China (plus Hong Kong) was far and away the world’s worst violator of
slave labor, Customs reports in 1999 and 2000 “this merchandise ... does
not appear to be a large violation of the law.” In that time, only 250
people had been prosecuted for slave trading, according to the 79-page
report “International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery.” This is shocking, given the CIA’s figure of 50,000 people who are brought here in secret bondage annually.
Customs
did vigorously move to halt the import of Chinese artificial flowers,
tea and other products through 20 detention orders and four findings in
1999. Meanwhile, Customs appeared to give scant resources and no mention
on its website to preventing the export to China of U.S. nuclear,
missile, stealth, fiber optic and other technologies vital to our
nation’s defense. Only one Chinese company and three foreign nationals
were indicted.
U.S.
Customs’ automated export system flags all military goods destined for
China (error 853) and does not allow China a low value exemption from
reporting detailed shipping information. Yet in fiscal 1999 Customs
apparently found hardly any instances of violations that it considers
prosecutable except for the indictment of three foreign nationals [fiber
optic, stealth, and antimissile technologies], [U.S. Customs, FY 1999 Accountability Report].
Indeed,
Customs has granted COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) – the nearly
exclusive shipper to China and a PRC (People’s Republic of China) owned
entity – special processing of its cargoes usually accorded to private
and free world shippers. For COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) these
include automated remote location filings and exemptions granted in
early 1997 from submitting Cargo Declarations with manifests and from
presenting copies to Customs for review. Are such efficiencies worth the
national security risks of potentially dangerous cargoes or exports of
militarily valuable technologies?
Another
breach is opened by the freight forwarder, the person often controlling
the shipping manifests or the paper trail on the contents of ships and
containers. Freight forwarding is a legal business. The problem is the
loyalties of Red Chinese company owners.
Kenneth Timmerman writing in the October 1997 issue of the American Spectator lists
Red Chinese-controlled freight forwarders such as Pan Ocean Lines,
North China Cargo, CU Transport Inc. (a creature of the China National
Foreign Trade Transportation Corporation) located in Alhambra, Rosemead,
and Monterey Park, California. In Compton there’s the China Interocean
Transport Inc. (China National Foreign Trade Transportation Corp.); CCIC
North America Inc (China National Import and Export Commodities
Inspection Corp.) in West Covina in El Monte, Morrison Express of El
Segundo.
Timmerman’s investigative reporting for Readers Digest, American Spectator and
the Cox Report disclosed thousands of Red Chinese companies based in
the US – most in LA – that are open for business and possibly espionage.
Under the 1999 Defense Authorization Act the Pentagon was ordered to
identify Chinese front companies. It did not. Rep. Chris Coxf said, “The Clinton-Gore administration’s failure to obey the law is knowing, willful and longstanding.”
The
whole Clinton-Gore response to Chinese espionage was bizarre, as
described by Johnny Chung of WND (WorldNetDaily): “This White House
administration not only delivered PNTR*,
but it also called Taiwan an intelligence threat to the U.S. and listed
the country as a terrorist threat along with Russia, China, North
Korea, Serbian-controlled Bosnia, Vietnam, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya and
Sudan.” [*“PNTR” = Permanent Normal Trade Relations, is a legal designation in the United States for free trade with a foreign nation.]
Meanwhile,
the espionage threat of China inside the United States is unspoken and
unexplored. We will concentrate most of our attention upon Red Chinese
presence in U.S. seaports through Beijing’s “front” companies.
Chapter 3
A Red Chinese Sailor in Every U.S. Port
The
Red Chinese government owns the 600-ship China Ocean Shipping Company
(COSCO), one of the world’s largest container shipping enterprises. It
operates as the merchant marine of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
and as such has been caught transporting AK47 automatic rifles to
street gangs in Los Angeles, components of weapons of mass destruction
to Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea. Yet COSCO (China Ocean Shipping
Company) has few critics and many friends.
The Many American Friends of COSCO
Old
salts like my father, a career Navy man, remembered the days when signs
saying “Dogs and Sailors Keep Off the Grass” littered the lawns of
American harbor towns when swabbies “hit the beach.” Those days are
gone. There are far fewer American sailors now and Red Chinese sailors
are welcomed everywhere. In Long Beach and Seattle locals ooze with
affection for foreign sailors – in particular those from COSCO (China
Ocean Shipping Company).
With
help from the Clinton White House, the City of Long Beach tried
mightily to give the former U.S. Naval Station to COSCO (China Ocean
Shipping Company) and local officials actively aided COSCO’s (China
Ocean Shipping Company’s) quest for a larger (secure) facility in the
region. For nearly three years, U.S.IC (the United States Intelligence
Community) and its over 350,000 petition signers implored leaders to
reconsider their short-sighted interest in trade. Finally, only acts of
Congress nixed a 20-year lease of the Long Beach Naval Station to China
and nudged the Port of Los Angeles out of a Pier 400 deal with COSCO
(China Ocean Shipping Company). COSCO quietly stretched out at new
berths at Pier J.
In
the Los Angeles region proponents of increasing trade with China have
largely silenced debate about the strategic importance of the Ports of
Long Beach and Los Angeles to the nation’s security.
COSCO’s (China Ocean Shipping Company’s) Beijing website happily exclaims:
“On
May 8, [2000] the Long Beach Port Authority held a ceremony in HYATT
Hotel for President Chen Zhongbiao of COSCO (China Ocean Shipping
Company) Group, in which President Chen got the honorary Long Beach
Pilot Award. During the ceremony, Madam O’neill [sic], the mayor of Long
Beach, expressed her sincere thanks for President Chen’s support for
the establishment of friendly cooperation between COSCO (China Ocean
Shipping Company) and Long Beach, especially under the complicated
situation two years ago. The Chairman of Long Beach Port Committee song
[sic] high praise for President Chen’s superior working style and his
devotion to the development of shipping industry of China and the U.S.,
and even the whole world. After the speech, he awarded President Chen
the honorary Long Beach Pilot Award on behalf of Long Beach Port
Authority.”
Still
the City and Port of Seattle far surpasses the Long Beach kowtow.
Seattle perfected genuflection with uniforms and music provided by – one
presumes – a reluctant U.S. Navy. Locals persuaded a U.S. Navy band to
provide uniforms and music. One suspects the Navy was keelhauled,
dragooned, impressed against its will.
Commemorating
the glorious 20th anniversary of the China trade with Seattle in April
1999, a “... fireboat fired towering columns of water ... [And] ... a
13th [U.S.] Naval District band broke into ‘It’s a Small World.’ The red
and gold flag of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Stars and
Stripes were raised and snapped together ....
“There
is a larger meaning ... connections with ... one of the leading
countries of the world in the next century,” said Port of Seattle
Commission President Patricia Davis. “[The] ... arrival of each COSCO
(China Ocean Shipping Company) ship ... [is] ... vital for world
stability and security and prosperity....” [Seattle Post-IntelIigeticer, April 19,1999].
So what is COSCO? What’s the problem with thousands of jobs and billions of dollars of trade with China?
A Vast Shipping Empire
COSCO
(China Ocean Shipping Company) is “one of the world’s largest shipping
lines, with more than 600 vessels, several hundred [300] subsidiary
companies and [has] 80,000 employees handling trade in 150 countries,”
said Seattle-based COSCO spokesman Mike Foley in the April 19, 1999
issue of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
According
to its website “COSCO GROUP ships visit more 1200 ports.” Of COSCO’s
vast fleet, close to 100 ships call on U.S. ports, and about 300 use the
Panama Canal. Its larger container vessels have a capacity of 5250 TEUs
(20foot equivalent container units). In 1997, the volume of cargo
carried by COSCO’s world container fleet was 3.4 million TEUs over 653.4
billion ton-miles.
Headquartered
in Beijing, COSCO GROUP has major offices in Hong Kong, Japan,
Singapore, the United States, Europe, South Africa and Australia, etc.
China Ocean Shipping Company Americas, Inc., has over 85 subsidiaries
and offices throughout the American continent with over 700 employees.
COSCO Americas headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey.
This
shipping enterprise is listed as a “red chip,” a PRC (People’s Republic
of China)-owned company, on the Hong Kong Stock exchange [Reuters, May
15, 2000] and is seeking a co-listing on New York exchanges. COSCO
(China Ocean Shipping Company) floats loans in American markets.
Recently, COSCO Group Ltd appointed BankBoston NA to arrange a $50
million loan to refinance debt. [Bloomberg- News May 9, 2000] .
COSCO
(China Ocean Shipping Company) has an increasingly routine presence in
America’s ports. Its ships sail in and out of American ports every day –
Baltimore, Charleston, Houston, New York, Miami, New Orleans, Norfolk,
Oakland, Port Elizabeth (NJ), Portland (OR), Seattle, Tacoma.
Even
Washington, D.C., has noted COSCO’s (China Ocean Shipping Company’s)
presence – although not in the form of a fleet on the Potomac. Under the
adept leadership of Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA) Congress issued a
highly revealing report of Red Chinese theft of U.S. nuclear secrets and
access U.S. missile guidance technology, which just happened to mention
a certain shipping operation.
“The
China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO), the PRC’s (People’s Republic of
China’s) state-owned shipping company ... operates under the direction
of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation and answers to
the PRC (People’s Republic of China) State Council,” the congressional
report stated.
The Clinton-Gore administration suppressed further information within the full-classified Cox report. “The
Clinton administration has determined that additional information
concerning COSCO that appears in the Select Committee’s classified Final
Report cannot be made public ....”
Perhaps
the Bush administration will see fit to reveal more about COSCO (China
Ocean Shipping Company) than did his kow-towing predecessor. “Although
presented as a commercial entity,” according to the House Task Force on
Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare, “COSCO [the China Ocean Shipping
Company] is actually an arm of the Chinese military establishment.”
Chapter 4
The PLA’s Merchant Marine
COSCO’s
(China Ocean Shipping Company’s) civilian trappings and predominantly
commercial enterprises obscure its military mission.
The
China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) is the merchant marine of the
People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The PRC refers to COSCO ships as zhanjian or “warships” and boasts that COSCO workers are and will be ready for battle into the next century.
The
Communist Chinese government owns it. COSCO Beijing’s website carries
quotations from top Communist Party officials. COSCO is intimately
linked to the China International Trust and Investment Corp. (CITIC), a
key fund-raiser for the Chinese government and a technology-acquiring
source for China’s military. COSCO serves its master.
An article in the November 10, 1997, New American described
COSCO as “hardly a typical state-owned shipping company. COSCO ships
have been used to ferry tanks to the Marxist regime in Burma, ship North
Korean rocket fuel to Pakistan, smuggle heroin into Canada, ship AK-47s
bound for California street gangs, technology smuggling to China.” It
has even purchased a Russian K-3 nuclear attack submarine from Finland.
Espionage and Other Clandestine Activities
Indeed,
COSCO ships have been caught and cited for transporting components of
weapons of mass destruction such as Chinese missile-technology, and
nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons components, materials and
fuels into North Korea, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq and Iran, according to
U.S. intelligence and international authorities. COSCO has been
repeatedly cited over many years and as recently as late 1999.
More
ominously for our national security, COSCO (the China Ocean Shipping
Company) is “known to be associated with Chinese intelligence
operations,” according to Year of the Rat. Like
Soviet trawlers before them, COSCO ships sail in the waterways and dock
at strategic locations all across the globe and in every major American
port. These locations enable them to intercept electronic
communications everywhere.
Li
Ka-shing, COSCO Senior Advisor and owner of Hutchison Whampoa –
operators of ports worldwide – “is to the Chinese army intelligence HQ
what Howard Hughes was for the CIA,” says William Triplett, author of Red Dragon Rising.
Recently,
the Chinese were caught monitoring Japanese radio signals and mapping
undersea approaches to Japan for their sub marines. In July 2000 a
secret CIA report described Russian merchant ships gathering signals
intelligence north of Puget Sound and the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma.
It is prudent to presume that – like the Soviets and the Russians – the
Chinese are gathering intelligence in the U.S.A with their forward
deployed assets – COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) ships and agents.
Smuggling
is another activity in which COSCO vessels have been employed,
transporting contraband weapons, drugs, slave labor, and prostitutes.
Richard
Delgaudio testified before a U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee
hearing chaired by Sen. John Warner, that Li Ka-shing is “China’s Red
Billionaire” and his firm is deeply involved in clandestine operations
for Red China’s military. Delgaudio’s testimony and his book Peril in Panama amply document China’s threats to the Panama Canal and to the U.S. from missiles smuggled into Li’s port facilities there.
The New American calls COSCO “a PLA (People’s Liberation Army)-connected
container shipping fleet that specializes in drug and weapon
smuggling.” COSCO smuggled 2,000 AK-47 assault rifles into San Francisco
in 1996 – the largest seizure of smuggled automatic weapons in U.S.
history. Smuggled aboard the COSCO vessel Empress Phoenix, the weapons were “destined for Asian street gangs founded by illegal immigrants who were once members of the PLA’s (People’s Liberation Army’s) elite Red Guard,” according to the New American.
Added Canada’s Globe and Mail in
a May 4, 1996 story: “Top officials of the two Beijing-based companies
Norinco and Poly Technologies that make weapons for the Chinese military participated in the smuggling.”
In February 1996, President Clinton met with Poly Technologies Chairman Wang Jun after taking a donation from Charlie Trie. A Rand report says, “Wang Jung is both director of CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation) and Chairman of Poly Group, the arms trading company of the General Staff Department.”
Wang Jun’s employer of record is COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company), according to the New American. Wang Jun, the chairman of the Poly Group is a business partner with Ng Lap Seng, described by the New American as
a “Macau mobster,” who in turn is a business partner with Macau casino
king Stanley Ho and, through Charlie Trie, a conduit of other Chinese
money to Clinton and Gore.
“Poly’s
U.S. subsidiaries were abruptly closed in August 1996,” states a Rand
report. “Allegedly, Poly’s representative, Robert Ma, conspired with
China North Industries Corporation’s (NORINCO) representative, Richard
Chen, and a number of businessmen in California to illegally import 2000
AK-47s into the United States.” Their customers were undercover U.S.
Customs and BATF agents.
A
year later, after Senator John McCain questioned an above-market and
taxpayer-subsidized COSCO contract for $157 million with a Mobile
Alabama shipbuilder, the CIA, the Coast Guard, and the Customs Service
told congressmen Steve Horn and David Dreier, that, “COSCO represents no
threat to our national security.” [Washington Times, April 4, 1997].
Harold
J. Creel, Maritime Commission chairman, did admit that COSCO engaged in
bribes, kickbacks, and predatory pricing. “They are not profit-driven
... They want to have their flag and their name on their ships,” said
Creel.
Today
COSCO (the China Ocean Shipping Company) has become a dominant force in
modern container shipping in the world while the U.S. retreats from
maritime activities vital to its own defense.
Chapter 5
Surrendering the High Seas
In contrast to COSCO’s (China Ocean Shipping Company’s)
massive merchant marine fleet the U.S. Navy Military Sealift Command
operates only 110 ships across the globe. While these ships are
identified as “U.S.NS” – United States Naval Ships –
they are not commissioned ships of the U.S. Navy. Civilians man U.S.
sealift ships, not military personnel. In contrast, COSCO’S large fleet
is under the absolute control of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
Most
U.S. sealift vessels are in reserve and require time to activate. The
National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) has activated up to 600 ships to
meet sealift needs during the Korean War, Berlin Crisis, Suez Crisis,
Vietnam War, and to ship coal to Europe and grain to India. These
historically proven needs aside, “Currently, the NDRF consists of [only]
258 vessels .... However, 85 are no longer militarily useful and are
slated for scrapping. In addition
... another 51 ships are held ... on a reimbursable basis. Forty-one of
these are naval vessels awaiting disposal. These vessels are maintained
at Benicia (Suisun Bay), California; Beaumont (Neches River), Texas;
and Fort Eustis (James River), Virginia and at designated outported
berths.” [U.S. Department of Transportation, Bureau of Transportation
Statistics, Maritime Administration, U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Trade and Transportation 1999, BTS99-02, Washington, DC: 1999].
Thus America’s available defense reserve fleet now comprises 143 ships – far less than the 600 found necessary several times since World War II and about equal to the COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) fleet servicing just U.S. seaports.
In
addition, American capacity to draw upon private U.S. shippers is quite
limited. “U.S.-flag oceangoing vessels play a small role in carrying
the nation’s international commerce ... [T]he United States ranks 26th
in the number of [U.S. flagged] ships and 11th in total DWT (deadweight
tonnage). ...The United States ranks 13th in the number of tankers, 9th
in tanker DWT (deadweight tonnage), 8th in containerships, and 6th in containership DWT (deadweight tonnage).” While, “approximately 45 percent of the world fleet by deadweight capacity calls at U.S. ports (U.S. Industry and Trade Outlook 1998), most is carried in foreign – increasingly Red Chinese – bottoms.
China Leads the Container Revolution
Enclosed
20- and 40-foot-long metal containers are increasingly the standard of
efficiency. Most containers are truck trailer sized bodies easily moved
from truck to railcar to ship. Containers ease storage, retrieval, and
transfers of bulk cargo among ship, railcar or truck but they are major
security problems. Drugs, weapons, and human beings are easily hidden
from view and closed containers are difficult to inspect.
The
latest containerships have a capacity of 4,500 20-foot equivalent
container units (TEUs) [a measure used for capacity in container
transportation] or more, and require drafts of 40 to 46 feet when fully
loaded.
“To
physically accommodate megaships at U.S. ports, channel and berth
depths must be at least 50 feet. However, only five of the top 15 U.S.
container ports – Baltimore, Tacoma, Hampton Roads, Long Beach, and
Seattle – have adequate channel depths, and only those on the west coast
have adequate berth depths. In addition, ports may need to expand
terminal infrastructure, such as cranes, storage yards, and information
systems, to facilitate the increased volumes of cargo from these ships.
Also, landside modes and facilities ... will face higher volumes of rail
and truck traffic. Many ports have initiated expansion projects to
accommodate these ships.” (U.S.DOT MARAD 1998, 49-51). [U.S.DOT MARAD =
Maritime Administration]
Local
port expansion projects of over a billion dollars are common as U.S.
ports compete to accommodate new container traffic – much of it by
Beijing-owned COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company)
and the Beijing-friendly Orient Overseas Container Line, (OOCL). While
using taxpayer funds is common, the use or swapping of former military
port facilities is well hidden. (Long Beach, Oakland, Charleston, New
York, Newport).
The
world’s containership fleet increased 15 percent annually from 1993 to
1997 as the larger ships handling 4,000 or more 20-foot equivalent
container units came into service mostly in east/west trade.
Who
is building the ships? Japan and South Korea alone build a third. China
may be a distant third, but the U.S. ranks 14th, accounting for an
anemic 1 percent of gross tonnage of ships built. In late September 2000
the Washington Times discovered
a Clinton Pentagon proposal to build American auxiliary military ships
overseas. After protests from Congress, Rear Adm. Craig Quigley claimed
that Clinton’s Defense Secretary William Cohen had “emphatically not”
supported the idea. The only remaining support ship builders in the U.S.
are National Steel in San Diego and Avondale Industries in New Orleans.
American shipbuilders shrunk from 21 firms in the 1980s to six defense
shipyards in 2000.
Foreign
flagged, built, and manned vessels are landing on U.S. coasts – 42
percent of the value of U.S. waterborne trade hit the West Coast, 38
percent the East, and 18 percent the Gulf in 1997. (U.S.DOC Census 1997,
table 1069; U.S.DOT MARA.D 1998). COSCO leads this foreign armada.
[U.S.DOT MARAD = Maritime Administration]
Long
Beach and Los Angeles dominate West Coast trade, but waterways
contiguous to the ports of Vancouver, B.C., Seattle and Tacoma are
strategic assets for U.S. Navy operations on the Pacific Rim. The port
of New York/New Jersey leads the East Coast in both value ($68 billion)
and in containers (1.7 million TEUs) handled in 1997, but Charleston and
Norfolk are major container ports. The Gulf ports of Houston and South
Louisiana handle bulk commodities and crude petroleum making them the
top two U.S. ports by gross tonnage. [TEUs) = a measure used for
capacity in container transportation]
COSCO’s Role in Red China’s Naval Strategy
Evidence suggests COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) plays a greater role as “a naval arm” of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) far beyond that of merchant marine.
“There
is a consensus among military specialists that China is prioritizing
two areas of military growth: its missile program and its navy,” states
the authors of Year of the Dragon. “COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) is essential to its naval program.”
Red
China seems to be preparing to contest with the U.S. Navy, Taiwan, and
Japan in its own region. Six hundred COSCO merchant vessels do not
appear as major combatants in that theater. However, they perform other
functions of naval strategy – COSCO is China’s forward-deployed naval
forces across the globe.
Chinese naval strategy for COSCO might be described as follows:
Some
vessels could serve as platforms for theater ballistic missiles ,as
well as containers for nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. They
might provide mobile bases for the cyberwar much discussed as part of
China’s RMA (Revolution in Military Affairs).
Ships equipped with electronic information gathering devices can provide signals intelligence from every important U.S. seaport.
Delgaudio in Peril in Panama shows
how COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) can secretly deploy an
intermediate range nuclear missile at Li Ka-shing’s Panama ports to
threaten 100 or more major U.S. cities.
And COSCO might conceivably serve as an expeditionary force projecting military power far from China.
The
U.S. Navy describes naval forces as “sea-based, self-contained, and
self-sustaining ... relatively unconstrained by regional infrastructure
requirements or restrictions. Further, naval forces can exploit the
freedom of maneuver afforded by the seas ....
“Mobility and Adaptability. Naval
forces can operate anywhere on the oceans, free of diplomatic
restraint. As such, they have an unmatched ability to operate forward
continuously, react to contingencies ... and act as the enabling force
for follow-on Army and Air Force power ....
“Presence and Visibility. Ships
can be purposely conspicuous or exceptionally difficult to detect. In
peacetime, ... visibility ... signal[s] interest, readiness, and ability
to act if a crisis brews. The same ships, stationed close in, on the
horizon, just over it, or in unlocatable places and circumstances, can
be used as needed in crisis or conflict. With the ability to cumulate
forces, naval power can be adjusted or scaled at will, increasing or
decreasing pressure ... as ... leadership chooses to raise or lower ...
commitment, and engage or disengage much more easily than land-based
forces, ... the enduring attractiveness of naval power is the
flexibility that stems from these inherent characteristics and
attributes. Investments in the Navy and Marine Corps are like money in
the bank. We do not need to know precisely how and where we will use
this resource in order to see its value – indeed our value is greater
because we are useful virtually anywhere and anytime. Our expeditionary
character, mobility, adaptability, variable visibility, and cooperative
and independent capabilities ... an especially relevant and useful
force. Entering this new century, the technology, information, strike
and telecommunications revolutions are rapidly undoing ... bounds on
naval power ... Communications capacities ... have increased by several
orders of magnitude. Information processing capabilities have expanded
concomitantly. Sensor and surveillance systems provide ship-based forces
with information about and insights into the land environment that can
equal that of land-based forces. [U.S. Navy, Posture Statement 20001.”
The
China Ocean Shipping Company’s (COSCO’s) vast fleet already enjoys both
the classic advantages and the modern application of all naval vessels
outlined above. And it also benefits from the support of some very
influential allies around the world.
Chapter 6
COSCO’s Network of Powerful Allies
The
China Ocean Shipping Company does not have to conduct its mission
alone. In addition to its expanding web of operations in North America
and around the world, COSCO can rely on a network of influential
“friends.” The surprising range of connections include a Chinese
billionaire whose Hong Kong-based company operates ports around the
globe, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and a “shadow” container
company bailed out by a member of the Chinese mafia.
The ‘Red Billionaire’
In Perils in Panama and
in testimony before the U.S. Senate, USIC (the United States
Intelligence Community) Chairman Richard has detailed the career and
activities of Li Ka-shing. A plastic flower king at
thirty, Li met Y.K. Pao, a Hong Kong banker, who introduced him to
banker Michael Sandberg. Sandberg was looking for a Chinese with the
best guanxi to the
Beijing leadership. Li was just the right man. Sandberg helped Li get a
bargain price for his bank’s 22 per cent stake in a British owned hong – Hutchison Whampoa.
By late 1999, a secret “Intelligence Assessment”
by the U.S. Southern Command Joint Intelligence Center, said, “Li
Ka-shing, Hutchison Whampoa’s owner, has extensive business ties in
Beijing and has compelling financial reasons to maintain a good
relationship with Beijing ... Hutchison’s containerized shipping
facilities in the Panama Canal, as well as the Bahamas, could provide a
conduit for illegal shipments of technology or prohibited items from the
west to the PRC (People’s Republic of China), or facilitate the
movement of arms and other prohibited items into the Americas.”
Li
Ka-shing’s vast global shipping empire requires watching because of his
intimate connection to COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) as its
Honorary Senior Advisor. COSCO Beijing website says:
“Mr. Li Ka-shing. Mr. Li is one of Hong Kong’s most prominent businessmen; as Chairman & Managing Directorof Cheung Kong Holdings and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd., Hong Kong he requires no forther [sic] introduction.”
China military specialist William Triplett, co-author of Red Dragon Rising, describes Li as “the banker” for the Chinese army. The Rand Corporation, the U.S. Bureau of Export Affairs, and the U.S. Embassy
in Beijing, all report that Li Ka-shing and his companies serve the
Chinese military as financiers and acquirers of high technology for the
PLA (People’s Liberation Army.) [Charles Smith, WorldNetDaily]
Li
Ka-shing is also major investor in the China International Trust and
Investment Corporation. Both the White House in 1994 and the Rarid
Corporation in 1997 revealed Li Ka-shing’s role in CITIC. “According to
the 1994 White House dossier, Li Ka-shing is a ‘member of the boards of
directors of the China International Trust and Investment Corporation
(CITIC). The CITIC bank is also more than it seems. The Rand report
said, “CITIC does enter into business partnerships with and provide
logistical assistance to PLA (People’s Liberation Army) and defense-industrial companies like Poly (Technologies).” Poly Technologies, Ltd. is the primary commercial arm of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) General Staff Department’s Equipment Sub-Department. CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation), according to the Rand Corporation, “became identified with the PLA (People’s Liberation Army)
as a result of the scandal surrounding (Poly Technologies chairman)
Wang Jun and his visit to the White House on 6 February 1996.” [Charles
Smith, WorldNetDaily]
According
to a 1994 Clinton dossier provided to participants in a trade mission,
Li has “significant economic and political ties to China,” including
investments in a “power station, a highway construction project and a
large contribution to Shantou University.” [Charles Smith, WorldNetDaily].
In
1997, the Rand Corporation’s secret report on the “Chinese defense
industry” revealed, according to Charles Smith, Li Ka shing’s direct
connections to the Chinese military, “Hutchison Whampoa of Hong Kong,
controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Kashing, is also negotiating for
PLA (People’s Liberation Army)
wireless system contracts, which would build upon his equity interest
in (Chinese army) Poly-owned Yangpu Land Development Company.”
A
USIC (the United States Intelligence Community) search of recent
financial and stock market news reveals Li Ka-shing, his family, and his
companies heavily invested in the Internet, telecommunications,
electricity, and water. China’s new military doctrines – a Revolution in
Military Affairs, RMA – advocate cyberwar against the internet and
disruptions of telecommunications. This doctrine taken with the Chinese
appreciation of the vulnerability of infrastructures is disturbing –
given its possible use of agents to exploit Li Ka-shing in strategic
industries and locations around the world. Prudent intelligence services
ought to watch.
COSCO
(China Ocean Shipping Company) senior advisory board member, Li
Ka-shing, has his own shipping empire mostly concentrated in port
facilities used by COSCO outside of the U.S.A. Li’s principal property
holding company Cheung Kong owns a maritime arm through Hutchison Port
Holdings Ltd. (HPH). HPH has 18 major ports around the world (4 in the
UK alone) and 8 other affiliates. Li’s companies recently handled 10
percent of the world’s global shipments.
Hong
Kong International Holdings (HIT) operates at Container Terminals 4, 6,
7 and through its joint venture with China Ocean Shipping Company
(COSCO) at Terminal 8 East. In 1996, HIT (Hong Kong International
Holdings) was offered the right to develop and operate two berths in
Container Terminal 9 (CT9). HPH owns three other incomplete container
terminals in Hong Kong, is purchasing port facilities at the Suez Canal,
owns Frazer docks in Vancouver, and has interests in other shipping
container companies. Li Ka-shing’s container facilities include:
Freeport Container Port, Bahamas; Panama Ports Company, Balboa &
Christobal; UK -Port of Felixstowe; Harwich International Port;
Thamesport; Europe Combined Terminals, Rotterdam; Port Said, Eygpt;
Jakarta International Container Terminals; Jakarta’s Koja Container
Terminal; Myanmar International Terminals (Burma); Thilawa, Yangon.
In
mainland Red China Li Ka-shing operates: Shanghai Container Terminals;
Yantian International Container Terminals, Shenzhen; Nanhai
International Container Terminals; Jiangmen International Container
Terminals; Zhuhai International Container Terminals (Jiuzhou); Shantou
International Container Terminals; Xiamen International Container
Terminals; Zhuhai International Container Terminals (Gaolan); Hong Kong
InternationalTerminals;NigboPort.
A Former Secretary of State
Li
serves with General Alexander M. Haig, a COSCO (China Ocean Shipping
Company) advisor, according to the COSCO Beijing website in the first
week of June 2000. The former NATO Commander, Secretary of State,
Presidential Chief of Staff, has been a paid “domestic and overseas
senior honorary advisor” to the China Overseas Shipping Company. He
lobbied to obtain the Naval Station in Long Beach for the Chinese.
As
owner of Worldwide Associates, Haig advises United Technologies, a
manufacturer of jet engines, air conditioners, and elevators. The
company has made billions in 17 joint ventures in China.
It is reminiscent of Armand Hammer’s exclusive franchises in the Soviet
Union for pencils, asbestos, chemicals, artwork, banking, medicines,
and oil.
Haig’s backing of China trade extends to newspaper columns and expert commentary on television. McAlvany Intelligence reports,
“Haig has been ... aggressive in defending the Red Chinese butchers ...
defending the Red Chinese leaders just a few months after they
slaughtered up to 10,000 student demonstrators in 1989. When China (in
early '96) blockaded the Taiwan Straits and lobbed nuclear capable
missiles ... off the coast of Taiwan ... and threatened to nuke Los
Angeles if America came to the aid of Taiwan, Haig frantically called
members of Congress, defending China and urging [Congress] not to impose
trade sanctions ....”
Haig is just one of six former Secretaries of State who publicly support permanent normal trading relations with China.
The “Shadow” Company
According
to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Li Ka-shing is very connected to
Tung Chee-hwa, the Beijing appointed Chief Executive of Hong Kong and
shares many ventures with the Tung family company Orient Overseas
Container Line, OOCL.
“Orient
Overseas (International) Ltd. OOIL owns a 23 percent stake in $1.8
billion Oriental Plaza, in Beijing ... backed by the Tungs, Richard Li
(Pacific Century) and Li Ka-shing (Hutchison),” [Business Week March 24, 1997; 22nd March 1999. ... FEATURES June 1999 Issue GREAT MALLS OF CHINA, Paul Money].
The
brothers Tung of Hong Kong have a successful family business and
profitable political relations with Beijing. Younger brother C.C. Tung,
chairman of the OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line) since 1996, is a
member of advisory boards for both COSCO and the Panama Canal. Rescued
from bankruptcy by Beijing and Li Ka-shing, C.C.’s older brother Tung
Chee Wah was CEO of Orient Overseas until he was chosen by Beijing to
run Hong Kong as its chief executive after the Communist takeover in
July 1997. Despite Tung’s high position, a man named Henry Fok may
really be “the puppet master in Hong Kong.”
In
1986 when Tung Chee-hwa’s OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line)
shipping business was on the brink of bankruptcy owing some $2.7 billion
to its creditors, Red Chinese interests came up with the $120 million
he needed to stay in business. They restructured $1.6 billion in debt
and declared $1 billion of it as equity. Henry Fok, identified by the
U.S. Justice Department as a member of the Chinese mafia Triad and a
Hong Kong businessman with extensive ties to the Red Chinese mainland,
engineered the deals to bail out OOCL.
It
is widely believed that Henry Fok brokered bridge loans from Li
Ka-shing and PLA-owned COSCO to keep Orient Overseas afloat. Fok was a
decades-long Communist Party activist who assisted the PRC (People’s
Republic of China) during the Korean War. [Chapter 8, The Year of the Rat]. “Further
support for Tung in Peking came from Li Ka-shing, who also helped
rescue Orient Overseas.” [Dr. Karl-Heinz Ludwig Ursulastr. 5D-80802
MUNCHEN].
According to the Far Eastern Economic Review, Fok
and his Red partners invested still again two years after the bailout,
“giving them a key role in the restructuring of the Tung empire.” Though
having a financial stake in Orient Overseas International (OOIL),
they allowed Tung to recover equity very quickly. In 1987 Tung’s wealth
was “peanuts.” A vehicle called Tung Holdings Trust, THT, held 65
percent of the company that controlled 74.6 percent of Orient. Fok
acquired 27.48percent of THT in 1989. In 1991 Tung borrowed to buy back
23 percent from Fok. In 1992 debts were converted to Tung shares of
Orient Overseas. By 1996 Tung had recovered 57.6 percent of a now very
profitable company.
One
well-placed source (he asks to remain nameless when discussing Fok)
says: “Henry Fok could become the next leader of Hong Kong just by
asking the Chinese for it.” But Fok seems to have concluded that he can
exercise all the power he wants through his man, Cheehwa Tung, while
maintaining the very low profile he craves.” [Nov 18, 1996 Forbes Today].
His
financial future secure and his loyalty certain, Beijing appointed Tung
Chee hwa to become Hong Kong’s executive officer and his brother C.C.
Tung took over OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line) in October 1996.
[”Henry Who: A Friend Indeed,” By Simon Fluendy, Far Eastern Economic Review, January 9,1997; Fortune April 1,1996].
In late June 2000 the South China Morning Post
reported that Chinese leaders in Beijing “told a group of visiting Hong
Kong tycoons they should support Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung
Chee-hwa for a second term in exchange for favorable business
treatment.” The paper’s largest shareholder, Robert Kuok, complained
that the reporter, Willy Lam, didn’t appreciate “manifestations of
patriotism to the mother.” [Reuters, Nov 4, 2000]. Chinese President
Jiang Zemin “lashed out at journalists for asking whether Tung was the
‘emperor’s choice’ to serve for another five-year term,” reported
Reuters on Nov 11, 2000. Demoted as China editor, Lam resigned.
[Reuters, Nov 4, 2000].
A
Beijing-revitalized OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line) is back as
“one of the world’s largest international integrated containerized
businesses,” according to its website. In 2000 OOCL had 13 offices and
very extensive business activities the People’s Republic of China and
160 offices in 50 countries. With 21 branches in China, OOCL “covers
virtually every province and major trade center.” OOCL calls at 13
Chinese ports - Dalian, Fuqing, Fuzhou, Huangpu, Ningbo, Qingdao,
Shanghai, Shantou, Shekou, Taiping, Xiamen, Xingang and Yantian. Li
Ka-shing operates many of these ports including Shanghai Yantian,
Shantou, Xiamen, and Nigbo.
In
the United States OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line) operates in
many of the same ports as COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company). OOCL in
America is headquartered in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay area town of
Pleasanton. OOCL has service offices in the coastal cities of Boston,
Charleston, Houston, Long Beach, New York, and Seattle and in Vancouver,
B.C. and Panama. In addition to services in cities with OOCL offices,
OOCL ships also deliver cargoes to Savannah, Norfolk, Miami, Los
Angeles, and Oakland.
OOCL
(Orient Overseas Container Line) owns Long Beach Container Terminal,
berths 6-10 at Pier F in Long Beach, Global Terminal in New Jersey,
Howland Hook on Staten Island New York, and Deltaport and Vanterm vessel
berths on Stewart St. and Roberts Bank in Vancouver, B.C.
OOCL
(Orient Overseas Container Line) claims its business in Vancouver and
New York-New Jersey was particularly profitable in 2000. Its Long Beach
terminal was twice cited as the “Best Container Terminal Operator in
North America.” Given Orient Overseas intimate ties to Beijing, U.S.
intelligence agencies ought to have security interests in OOCL.
Chapter 7
A Clear and Present Danger
Every
American port competes for ships and sells itself as “having quick
turn-around times and efficient operating systems.” Indeed, “the contest
to have the most efficient and modern facilities is not new ...
Shipping lines are undergoing a lot of consolidation – and the
competition... [can] ... get even more intense ... [a] bidding war
between East Coast ports erupted [in 1998] ...when Maersk Sealand, ...
owned by the Danish industrial group A.P. Moller, threatened to move its
hub out of New York,” said Ken Cottrill, logistics and maritime editor
at Traffic World.
“Everyone was falling all over themselves to offer them tax breaks and the best possible facilities,” reported the Atlanta Business Chronicle of August 7, 2000.
Competition for business among America’s ports is a national phenomena that has pushed considerations of national security entirely outside the scope of local thinking. USIC (the United States Intelligence Community) favors free markets and competition, but warns that local efforts to aid COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) as a critical element of successful trade with China, may be costly to our country’s defense.
“Los
Angeles and Long Beach rule container traffic on the West Coast; in the
East it’s Norfolk, Virginia, and Charleston, South Carolina. For ships
using the Gulf of Mexico ... Houston is in high-stakes competition with
New Orleans. [Houston Press 7/2/98]
The
Beijing-owned COSCO security problem is not confined to Long Beach/Los
Angeles, which first gave rise to public concerns. It is nationwide.
COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) ships sail in and out of American ports every day –
Baltimore, Charleston, Houston, New York, Miami, New Orleans, Norfolk,
Oakland, Port Elizabeth (NJ), Portland (OR), Seattle, Tacoma, and
contiguous Vancouver, B.C.
A quiet private company with the extensive Beijing ties is the Orient Overseas Container Line.
OOCL in the U.S. is headquartered in Pleasanton, California, around the
San Francisco-Oakland Bay area. OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line)
has service offices in the coastal cities of Boston, Charleston,
Houston, Long Beach, New York and Seattle and in Vancouver, B.C. and
Panama. In addition to services in cities with OOCL offices, OOCL ships
also deliver cargoes to Savannah, Norfolk, Miami, Los Angeles, and
Oakland.
U.S.
Customs is ill equipped to check any more than 2 percent of every cargo
container – and then only if the paperwork is irregular or it has
specific intelligence information. In fact, documents obtained by USIC
(the United States Intelligence Community) show some Chinese shipping
firms have falsified their import papers.
As
the Interagency Commission revealed, most American seaports have “fair
to poor” security, rampant crime, corruption, and high vulnerability to
terrorist attacks. It is in this context that it is prudent to alert the
public and port authorities to the potential security risks presented
by Beijing-owned COSCO (China Ocean Shipping Company) and
Beijing-intimate OOCL (Orient Overseas Container Line).
USIC
(the United States Intelligence Community) urges that more CIA and NSC
resources be devoted to preventing the export of U.S. military secrets
to China. Moreover, USIC recommends that Congress and the Bush
administration budget additional funds to the CIA, NSC (National
Security Council), NSA (National Security Agency), Customs, FBI and
other agencies to halt such exports dangerous to our nation’s survival.
USIC
urges the Bush administration and Congress to provide Customs with the
resources necessary to perform its export control duties. For example,
Custom’s Automated Export System (AES) can account for only 39 percent
of all U.S. exports and its Automated Commercial System is near
meltdown. A new Automated Commercial Environment, ACE, system needs
funding for $130 million.
At
the very least, COSCO’s ships and sailors must be considered as likely
instruments of espionage as well as a source of revenue that will be
used to modernize Red China’s massive military machine. In the
worst-case scenario, COSCO is the forward-deployed forces of a potential
enemy who has already achieved a “stealth invasion” on our shores.
Right
now, Red Chinese “front” companies like COSCO brazenly conduct their
clandestine operations in our seaports because they’re free from the
scrutiny of U.S. authorities. These provide Beijing’s agents with the
perfect cover for:
• Intelligence gathering devices to spy on our navy
• Transportation to Red China of high-tech equipment stolen from America
• Concealed shipments into our country of arms, slave labor, prostitutes, drugs – or worse, weapons of mass destruction.
COSCO
has already been caught red-handed running 2,000 illegal AK-47 assault
rifles to LA street gangs – the largest seizure of automatic weapons in
U.S. history. Beijing could easily blackmail America by smuggling
nuclear, chemical or biological weapons right into a major seaport like
Los Angeles.
The
presence of nearly 100 ships of Red China’s merchant marine and
millions of unopened, uninspected containers entering the United States
is a clear and present danger to American lives and property on our home
shores. ....
Let us pray our leaders heed those words and that we’re not too late in closing our gates to Red China’s “Trojan Horse.”
[If the reader thinks the Canaanite-Edomite-jew is not the mover, shaker and financier of all of this intrigue, read again:
“...
Y.K. Pao, a Hong Kong banker, who introduced him to banker Michael
Sandberg. Sandberg was looking for a Chinese with the best guanxi to the
Beijing leadership. Li was just the right man. Sandberg helped Li get a
bargain price for his bank’s 22 per cent stake in a British owned hong – Hutchison Whampoa ...”
“... China military specialist William Triplett, co-author of Red Dragon Rising, describes Li as “the banker” for the Chinese army ...”
“...
The company has made billions in 17 joint ventures in China. It is
reminiscent of Armand Hammer’s exclusive franchises in the Soviet Union
for pencils, asbestos, chemicals, artwork, banking, medicines, and oil
...”
[Note:
“Sandberg” is definitely a Canaanite-jewish name, and no doubt “Li” was
a Canaanite-jew who took a Chinese name, which the jews are notorious
for doing when infiltrating a different geographic region! Armand Hammer
was a jew and had the mannerisms of a jew, so why would “Li” be any
different? Clifton A. Emahsier]
Key Abbreviations, Words And Phrases For Further Research:
(COSCO) China Ocean Shipping Company.
(PLA) People’s Liberation Army
(OOCL) Orient Overseas Container Line
(PRC) People’s Republic of China.
USIC (the United States Intelligence Community)
Interagency Commission on Crime and Security
SEDs, Shipper’s Export Documents
State Department’s Office of Defense Trade Controls
CATIC (China Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation)
CITIC (China International Trust and Investment Corporation)
Pan
Ocean Lines, North China Cargo, CU Transport Inc (a creature of the
China National Foreign Trade Transportation Corporation) located in
Alhambra, Rosemead, and Monterey Park, California.
China Interocean Transport Inc. (China National Foreign Trade Transportation Corp.)
CCIC, North America Inc. (China National Import and Export Commodities Inspection Corp.)
PNTR = Permanent Normal Trade Relations, (a legal designation in the United States for free trade with a foreign nation)
(NORINCO) China North Industries Corporation’s
(NDRF) National Defense Reserve Fleet
DWT (deadweight tonnage)
(TEUs) [a measure used for capacity in container transportation]
RMA (Revolution in Military Affairs)
U.S. Southern Command Joint Intelligence Center
(HIT) Hong Kong International Holdings
(OOIL) Orient Overseas (International) Ltd.
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