From: burro@panama.gulf.net
Date sent: Thu, 19 Jun 1997 20:14:13 -0500

China Unveils a State-Of-The-Art Supercomputer Developed by the Military

c The Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) - China unveiled a state-of-the-art supercomputer developed by the military Thursday amid questions over whether U.S.-made supercomputers had aided Chinese weapons programs.

The Yinhe-3, capable of performing 13 billion calculations per second, was heralded by state-run media as a breakthrough for China's defense and computer industry.

China Central Television devoted the top story on its national evening news broadcast to the black, refrigerator-size computer. Vice Premier Zou Jiahua, on behalf of Chinese leaders, personally congratulated the researchers at the computer institute of the National Defense Science and Technology University.

Supercomputers can help in weather forecasting but also may be used to test nuclear weapons, build more accurate missiles and develop code-breaking technology.

Last week, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told Congress that investigators were checking whether supercomputers sold to private Chinese companies may have been used for nuclear weapons testing. China has 46 American supercomputers according to one senator's estimate.

The Justice Department was looking into one sale, to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the nation's top research institute, that may have violated U.S. export rules. Licences are required for military-related sales of computers capable of at least 2 billion calculations per second.

China has denied any misuse of U.S. supercomputers, saying they have been used for civilian purposes such as weather forecasting.

The Yinhe-3's ``overall functions, efficiency and powerful network design are up to the world advanced level,'' the Xinhua News Agency said, citing an appraisal committee of scholars from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other institutions.

``They believe such a breakthrough in the hi-tech field will greatly promote the country's economic development, defense building and science and technology progress,'' Xinhua said.

The National Defense Science and Technology University has also developed software for the computer for weather forecasting, earthquake research and other scientific study, Xinhua said.

AP-NY-06-19-97 1207EDT