China said yesterday it had the technology to make the neutron bomb as it stepped up its war of words with pro-independence Taiwan.
The surprise announcement by a senior official in Beijing said that Chinese scientists had mastered the design of the neutron bomb, and of miniaturised nuclear warheads, "as early as in the 1970s and 1980s".
The official, Mr Zhao Qizheng, said: "Since China already possessed atom bomb and hydrogen bomb technologies, it was quite logical and natural for it to master the neutron bomb technology through its own efforts over a reasonable period of time."
Neutron bombs are small thermonuclear weapons that release higher radiation doses than conventional warheads. They were developed by the United States military to kill soldiers protected by armour against attack by lesser nuclear warheads.
The revelation that China has such technology came during a rebuttal of allegations in the US congress that China had stolen nuclear secrets. But the official Chinese news agency ensured the neutron bomb claim would get maxi mum publicity by issuing special bulletins in English and Chinese.
The Cox report published in May claimed that stolen US technology had enabled China to jump from primitive nuclear capability to "modern thermonuclear weapons designs" in only a few years.
Mr Zhao, head of the information office, said this was "a grave calumny on the Chinese people and Chinese scientists, (and) also a kind of obvious racial discrimination". The statement will increase the tension with Taiwan after the claim by its president, Mr Lee Teng-hui, that China and Taiwan are separate states.
Beijing has said it will not renounce the use of force if Taiwan moves to independence.
China's defence minister, Mr Chi Haotian, said on Wednesday that the armed forces were "ready at any time. . . to smash any attempts to separate the country". The Chinese army newspaper said Taiwan's president was "playing with fire".
The defence ministry in Taipei said yesterday that its forces were on high alert and closely watching China for military movements.
Mr Zhao yesterday also derided claims that China had stolen US computer codes for thermonuclear weapon production. The three codes, he said, had been acquired free of charge from the International Atomic Energy Agency in the early 1980s: other IAEA members had also been given them.
He rejected the claim that China had poached missile technology data from commercial satellites launched on behalf of US companies.
"People with even slight knowledge of science and technology would know that the (satellite) carrier rocket and (nuclear) missile have different requirements in terms of guidance precision," he said.
Negotiations also opened yesterday in Beijing on compensation for the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade during the Kosovo war.
Reuters adds: US Attorney General Ms Janet Reno acknowledged yesterday bungling in the handling of sensitive intelligence about an alleged Chinese plot to influence US elections.
Ms Reno said she accepted the main conclusion of a report that strongly criticised the FBI for failing to share the classified information in 1996 and 1997 with Congress and top FBI and Justice Department officials.
But she maintained the delay in sharing the intelligence did not hurt the investigation by a Justice Department task force into various allegations of campaign finance abuses, including charges denied by China that it sought to influence the 1996 US presidential election.
She commented the day after Justice Department Inspector General Michael Bromwich issued a summary of his report which criticised the FBI for poor judgment. He cited an "undue reluctance" by the FBI's National Security Division to pass along the information, partly because of concern about jeopardising intelligence sources and methods.
Whether China sought to influence US elections, mainly through indirect contributions to Democrats, was a major issue at hearings nearly two years ago.