The claims made by Bernard Schwartz and Loral that they did not knowingly export military technology to China contradicts the official briefing documents given to Ron Brown in 1994. One Loral document obtained from the files of Ron Brown, labeled "for Secy. Brown", has a page titled "Commercial Applications Of DoD Technology". This document lists "Intelsat", "Cellular - Globalstar" and "Direct Broadcast Satellite" technology along with a variety of other products developed from "DoD" projects. Thus, Loral knowingly exported systems they developed for the U.S. military to China.
I can think of several versions of this: a. simple money and politics - company wants big $ deal, contributes to right politicians. ( |$| > |USA| ) --> fast track for deal b. round 2 of crypto-AG - they want to listen to the Chinese so they had better be the equipment vendor. Who operates the satellites that the Chinese radios use? You might say that to meet US Intelligence needs the range of products available outside the US should be minimized and those that are shipped should come from companies that cooperate with the NSA. It makes some *small* amount of sense but certainly plays hell with what an entrepreneurial type might want to accomplish. Pretty unfair in that regard. Especially since they have no visible control over extraterritorial ventures anyway. Civilian interest and capability in crypto must piss these guys off beyond belief. Stupid Constitution! Mike