On ‘The Hill’ Since the lab was founded amid intense secrecy in 1943, it has been known as ‘The Hill.’ At first the scientific luminaries from all over the world who gathered there worked under false names and were forbidden to talk to outsiders. They agonized over making the bomb; some even thought the initial test blast might ignite the Earth’s atmosphere and annihilate humankind.
Security: For more than a decade, the entire complex was off-limits to outsiders, surrounded by a large fence and tightly guarded by the U.S. military. The big fence came down in 1957, and anyone can now drive through. But individual research stations, dun-colored buildings known as ’tech sites,’ are sealed off by fences and security teams. And the building known as Tech 55, where plutonium is processed, is a fortress of armed guards, alarms and sensors. ‘It may be the most heavily guarded four acres on Earth,’ says a Los Alamos spokesman.
U.S.-China talking points Trade: China wants to join the World Trade Organization as a ‘developing nation,’ exempt from lowering trade barriers. Washington has balked.
Human rights: In the most recent dustup, the Senate denounced China’s jailing of founders of the nascent China Democratic Party
The missile gap: The Pentagon warns that China’s missile buildup along the southern coast will give it an overwhelming advantage over Taiwan. Beijing has lambasted Washington for considering a theater missile-defense system for regional allies that might include Taiwan.
Currency regulations: U.S. firms have been hurt by new protocols in China that have made it painfully difficult for customers to exchange local currency for greenbacks
Beijing’s shopping list China wants spies to help acquire technologies with military applications. Some of the key industries:
Avionics: Aircraft engines, air frames, gyroscopes and simulation equipment and software the military can use to train pilots on the ground are all targets
Materials: High-strength polymers and strong plastics used in the production of stealth technology are priorities
Supercomputers: Aerospace needs include guidance systems, launchers, telemetry technology and cutting-edge communications gear
Biotechnology: Manipulation of living cells to create new drugs is the crown jewel of U.S. research, and Beijing wants in on the action
Medical technology: China also lags in the production of new pharmaceuticals and in advanced equipment for testing and treatment
Targets of opportunity Chinese ‘agents’ often are graduate students passing on tidbits they pick up during summer internships or researchers talking a bit too freely at an academic conference. The vast majority of students never try to spirit classified data to Beijing.
