"Am I therefore become your enemy,because I TELL YOU THE TRUTH...?"
(Galatians 4:16)

Intelligence report hits China deal

U.S. intelligence agencies informed a Treasury Department-led review committee recently that a merger between 3Com and a Chinese company would threaten U.S. national security, The Washington Times has learned.Bush administration intelligence officials said the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) recently submitted a required threat assessment to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, known as CFIUS, which is conducting a 30-day investigation of the proposed deal between 3Com and China's Huawei Technologies. The assessment, which is classified, described the deal as posing a "threat" to U.S. national security, according to officials familiar with the document."The deal is in trouble," said one official, who noted that pro-business officials who in the past dismissed critics of the deal are now worried the merger will be blocked because of the assessment.The proposed $2.2 billion merger was announced quietly in October, with 3Com stating that the main purchaser would be the international investment firm Bain Capital Partners-an apparent bid to play down the role of Huawei, China's main producer of computer network equipment and an international supplier.Reports in The Times about Huawei's past illicit activities-including bribery, economic espionage and violating U.N. sanctions-led Bain to voluntarily submit the deal to the Treasury Department for review.3Com manufactures computer network intrusion-prevention equipment used by the Pentagon and U.S. government agencies. Intelligence officials are concerned that the technology China would gain from 3Com will boost the Chinese military's computer warfare capabilities. Asked about the assessment, DNI spokesman Ross Feinstein said, "In accordance with the statute, the intelligence community prepares threat assessments for the CFIUS process, but we do not comment on these assessments."

As in the days of Noah....