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COPYRIGHT 2003 FDCH e-media
Original Source: LOU DOBBS TONIGHT
LOU DOBBS, CNNfn ANCHOR, LOU DOBBS TONIGHT: Tonight: trade disputes with China, rising tensions over Taiwan, and now a Chinese spy scandal. U.S.- Chinese relations face a new challenge after the accused spy pleads guilty. National security correspondent David Ensor reports.
This years`s flu season has begun early, has already claimed lives, and could be the worst in three decades. The number of deaths from flu this year could double. The government`s top expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, is our guest.
In "Broken Borders": The Food and Drug Administration faces tough questions after contaminated food imported from Mexico sickens hundreds and kills three. How safe is our imported food? Bill Tucker reports.
And tonight, as the nation prepares to celebrate Thanksgiving, a special tribute to the men and women who are serving our country around the world. I`ll be joined by one of the country`s most decorated soldiers, General David Grange.
ANNOUNCER: This is LOU DOBBS TONIGHT for Wednesday, November 26. Here now, Lou Dobbs.
DOBBS: Good evening.
Tonight, a human rights activist China jailed for espionage two years ago is at the center of a spying scandal. The Chinese-born woman today pleaded guilty in Alexandria, Virginia, to illegally exporting U.S. technology to China. That equipment can be used in missile guidance systems. China convicted the woman of spying for Taiwan in July of 2001. She was released after President Bush telephoned the Chinese president.
National security correspondent David Ensor has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Their appearance at federal district court in Virginia, charged with illegal exports to China, is a surprise twist in the story of Gao Zhan and her husband, known until now in the West as critics of human rights in China.
With tears in her eyes, Gao Zhan pled guilty to two charges, illegally exporting $1.5 million worth of sensitive electronic components to China and tax evasion. Under federal guidelines, the maximum sentence for the first charge is 10 years, though prosecutors say she`s cooperated. They`re likely to ask for much less.
MARK HULKOWER, ATTORNEY FOR GAO: The parts all have civilian and commercial nonmilitary uses. And she believed that was the use to which those parts were going to be put.
ENSOR: It is an extraordinary turn of events for the U.S. resident/Chinese citizen who was imprisoned in China for five months on charges of spying for Taiwan. Her son was also held separately for a time, prompting official complaints.
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We think it is particularly outrageous that the young boy, son, was held away from his parents.
ENSOR: After intense pressure from Washington, she was freed, to return to her husband and child and to her job as professor at American University in Washington.
GAO ZHAN, PROFESSOR, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: With America standing by me, with these fine people standing behind me, I`m not scared.
ENSOR: Now, the human rights hero lionized in Washington will do jail time in this country for illegally serving as China`s agent, obtaining microprocessors that can be used in missile guidance systems.
GAO: You will have a chance to hear my story. I assure you.
QUESTION: I know, but today -- people are going to hear today. They`re going to hear today what the government says.
GAO: No, no, no. They`re going to have a lot of time to hear in the future.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ENSOR: The question many are asking tonight, Lou, if Gao was working for China, what was that all about with her going to jail in China? Was that a ruse to fool the United States or was it a case of one part of the Chinese government not knowing what the other one was doing?
That, said one official to us today, is the $2 million question -- Lou.
DOBBS: At least that, David. And we should point out that Gao Zhan was convicted of spying before her conviction in China for spying for Taiwan, correct?
ENSOR: She was found guilty of spying for Taiwan by the Chinese, served some time, then came here.
She has not, I should point out, been found guilty of spying here, only of acting as an agent, in fact, selling things to China without the proper licenses. So that`s a lesser charge, but still a serious one.
DOBBS: A lesser one and a government term. I think the rest of us mortals, David, might consider it spying.
Thanks very much, David Ensor, our national security correspondent.
Just hours after Gao Zhan entered her guilty plea, the White House, by coincidence, announced that President Bush will meet the Chinese prime minister in Washington next month. The White House said the president wants to continue building what he termed a candid, constructive and cooperative bilateral relationship with China. The growing trade dispute between the United States and China is certain to be one of the main topics on the agenda.
The U.S.-China trade dispute is worsening seemingly by the day. It has now spread to television sets. China today accused Washington of unfair trade sanctions when Washington imposed tariffs on Chinese-made television sets. Incredibly, China has a powerful ally in this country. It is America`s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart.
Peter Viles has the report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER VILES, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The latest trade spat between Washington and Beijing, Chinese manufacturers accused of dumping TV sets into the American market, the case brought by the last American-owned TV factory and by unions that have been hammered by cheap imports.
But guess who stuck up for the Chinese in Washington? That`s right, their big customer, Wal-Mart. In testimony before the U.S. International Trade Commission, Wal-Mart [Company: Wal-Mart Stores Inc.; Ticker: WMT ; URL: http://www.wal-mart.com/] argued -- quote -- "The imported televisions cannot be injuring the domestic industry."
LAURENCE LASOFF, ATTORNEY, COLLIER SHANNON SCOTT: It was somewhat ironic. I go back to Sam Walton a number of years ago standing up, raising the American flag, and saying, we are going to buy American. Things have certainly changed. But Wal-Mart has gone to such extremes to get the cheapest product available in the marketplace, that it appears that they are willing to buy product that is priced unfairly, in contradiction with U.S. law and international law.
VILES: Among the TV sets at issue are the new Apex brand from China. If you go to WalMart.com you can see how cheap that brand is, 20-inch, flat screen on special, $114, 27-inch stereo TV, $177, 51-inch HDTV, $1,100.
In defending the Chinese, a Wal-Mart executive testified -- quote -- "We purchase U.S.-produced sets to satisfy one part of our market and we import sets to satisfy a separate part of our market." Meantime, it is a myth that television manufacturing is a dead industry in the United States. Sony [Company: Sony Corporation; Ticker: SNE ; URL: http://www.world.sony.com/], for example, employs more than 2,000 people at a factory outside Pittsburgh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VILES: The dumping case brought by Tennessee-based Five Rivers Electronic , which makes Samsung and Zenith TVs, among others, and says it has had to cut of 600 jobs in the past three years due to low-priced competition from imports -- Lou.
DOBBS: Wal-Mart the fifth largest market by itself for Chinese goods overseas.
VILES: Yes.
DOBBS: And Wal-Mart in this case defending, in this case, as you point out, the Chinese, while the United States is intervening to protect U.S. manufacturers which happen in at least one case to be Japanese.
VILES: Sure. The American...
DOBBS: I think this is globalization.
VILES: It is, at its best or at its worst.
The American industry was beaten down by the Japanese in...
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