Daily Press Briefing

US State Department Press Releases

Our top priority, of course, for both countries continues to be recovery from Hurricane Mitch. We consider this a bilateral matter that the two countries need to resolve between themselves. Again, we're encouraging both of them to work together to resolve this dispute as quickly and amicably as possible in accordance with international laws and procedures.

QUESTION: There's a report in the current New Yorker magazine that Iraq has ordered a number of medical machines which contain a special high-speed switch which, as it happens, is the same kind of high-speed switch which is used to compress nuclear compounds in an atomic bomb. According to this report, the State Department vetoed the sale by Siemens, a German firm, but then it looks as if a French firm has stepped into the deal and is supplying these rapid precise switches.

Do you know anything about it and if not, could you look into it, please?

MR. FOLEY: First, I don't know anything about it. I've not heard of that. Second, without coming out on the specifics of this report but the idea that there can be dual-use imports that contribute to Iraq's ban or prohibited programs of weapons of mass destruction underscores the vigilance which, the United States at least, has brought to the work of the Sanctions Committee at the UN. You know we've been criticized for exercising this vigilance even though I think the numbers demonstrate that overwhelmingly requests for Iraqi imports have been approved when they are purely humanitarian in nature. But I've not heard this report. Any Iraqi imports though, be they from one country or another, however, would have to be approved by the Sanctions Committee. But I'd have to look into the question for you.

QUESTION: A question on China - last April, Secretary Albright asked the Chinese Government to release Mr. Hua Di, a researcher from Stanford University. Mr. Hua was sentenced to 15 years in China last week. Do you have anything to say on that issue?

MR. FOLEY: Yes, I do. Hua Di, I believe you're referring to. The researcher at Stanford University was arrested in January of 1998 while visiting relatives in China. We've seen reports of the sentencing and our embassy in Beijing has officially raised the case again and requested information about it from the Chinese Government.

Based on -- Mr. Hua is not a US citizen; he is a legal permanent resident of the United States, but based on what we know of his activities as an academic researcher in the US, we are aware of no reason to justify his detention and sentencing. We remain deeply concerned about Mr. Hua's reported health problems and need for medical treatment. We're concerned that his detention may have a chilling effect on academic exchanges between the US and China.

Anything else? Thank you.

(The briefing concluded at 1:50 P.M.)