BOEING AND HUGHES CHARGED WITH SHARING SPACE TECHNOLOGY WITH CHINA

3 Jan 03. The US State Department on Thursday said that Boeing and Hughes
Electronics had 30 days to respond to charges that they illegally shared sensitive space technology with China in the 1990s that may have helped Beijing fine-tune its missiles. The companies, which have long denied any wrongdoing in the case, were formally charged last week with 123 violations of the Arms Export Control Act and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations.

Boeing and Hughes face fines of up to $500,000 per charge and possible bars to getting US export licences if found guilty of the charges by a federal administrative judge and later, by a top State Department official. In a written statement, Randy Brinkley, Boeing Satellite Systems president, noted that the charges related to events that occurred years before Boeing acquired Hughes Space and Communications, Hughes’ satellite business, in October 2000.

“As a condition of the acquisition, Hughes retained responsibility for resolving these China matters and for paying any resulting fines or penalties,” he said. The Boeing Company places the highest priority on compliance with export control laws.”