China denies expelled citizens spied on Ukraine

KYIV - The Chinese Embassy denied on February 2 that three of its citizens expelled from Ukraine that week had acquired sensitive high-technology documents illegally, and demanded action from Ukraine to vindicate them, reported Reuters.

Ukraine's security service, however, stood by allegations that the men had broken the law by securing information on the construction of rocket engines for inter-continental ballistic missiles from the Pivdenmash aerospace plant.

A Chinese Embassy statement did not indicate what measures Beijing was seeking from Ukrainian authorities but said the men had broken no laws. It expressed "extreme consternation" that media reports had referred to the expelled men as spies.

Ukraine's security service also said it was inaccurate to describe the men as spies. But it repeated that they had violated laws and said their actions had posed a threat to Ukraine's international reputation. The three men were searched in Dnipro-petrovske, site of the Pivdenmash plant in east-central Ukraine, and put aboard a scheduled flight to Beijing on January 31.

Ukrainian officials said the men used a private Ukrainian firm to secure the information from the vast plant, which once produced the most advanced Soviet nuclear missiles. Pivdenmash, once run by President Leonid Kuchma, now produces rockets and various goods for civilian use.

Ukrainian-Chinese relations are cordial, especially since President Kuchma's visit to China in December of last year. China is Ukraine's second largest trade partner after the Russian Federation.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 11, 1996, No. 6, Vol. LXIV

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