UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Bureau of Export Administration Washington, D.C. 20230 September 15, 1998 Mr. Charles R. Smith Softwar 7707 Whirlaway Drive Midlothian, VA 23112 Dear Mr. Smith: This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Commerce dated June 1,1998, in which you request all information on any exports and involving China Civil Aviation (eg...air traffic control systems) or information on CAAC the Chinese Civil Aviation Authority from 1993 to the present. Your request was referred to the Bureau of Export Administration, including the Office of Exporter Services (OExS), which maintains export licensing records of dual-use commodities, and Export Enforcement (EE), which maintains license screening and enforcement records. Neither OExS or EE can confirm nor deny the existence of any records responsive to your request. If responsive documents were to exist, they would be exempt from disclosure, under FOIA subsection (b)(3), which protects from FOIA disclosure matters which are: specifically exempted from disclosure by statute..., provided that such statute...(B) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld. 5 U.S.C.A. 552(b)(3) (1996 and Supp.1998). The statutory provision which specifically exempts this information from disclosure is section 12(c) of the Export Administration Act of 1979, as amended (the Act) (50 U.S.C.A. app. 241 l(c) (1991 and Supp. 1998)). Section 12(c) states, in pertinent part, that: ... information obtained for the purpose of, consideration of, or concerning, license applications under this Act shall be withheld from public disclosure unless the release of such information is determined by the Secretary to be in the national interest. This section does not merely authorize maintaining the con~dentiality of information obtained under the Act, but requires that such information not be disclosed unless its release is determined to be in the national interest. Consistent with the criteria of section 12(c), in the absence of a national interest determination authorizing release of information responsive to your request, any such information could not be released. The authority provided by section 12(c) is supplemented by authority contained in the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C.A. section 1701 - 1706 ( 1991 & Supp. 1998)), Executive Order 12924 (3 CFR, 1994 Comp., p 916 (1995)), as extended by Presidential Notice on August 15, 1995 (3 CFR, 1995 Comp., p501 (1996)), August 14, 1996 ( 3 CFR 1996 Comp., p298 (1997)), August 13, 1997 (3 CFR, 1997 Comp., p 306 (1998), and August 13, 1998 (63 Fed. Reg. 44121, August 17, 1998) and the Export Administration Regulations (15 CFR Parts 730-774 (1998)). The denying official for EE is Mark D. Menefee, Acting Director, Office of Export Enforcement. No other components of BXA located responsive documents. This is the initial determination for your request. You have the right to appeal administratively the denial of any records withheld within 30 days of the date of this letter. If you decide to file an appeal, address it to the Assistant General Counsel for Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, room 5898C, Washington, D.C. 20230. Include a copy of your original request, the initial denial, a statement of the reasons why the records should be made available, and a statement of why the initial determination was in error. Both the appeal letter and the envelope should be clearly marked "Freedom of Information Act Appeal." If you have any questions about this matter, you may contact Henry Gaston, BXA's FOIA Officer, at (202) 482-5653. Sincerely, Eileen M. Albanese Director Office of Exporter Services FOI 98-73
U.S. Department
of Transportation
Federal Aviation
Administrotion
Memorandum
Subject: INFORMATION: China ATC Discussions
Date: May 21, 1997
From: Deputy Director of International Aviation
To: Acting Administrator
THRU: Acting Assistant Administrator for Policy, Planning
and International Aviation
Reply to
Attn. of: Jean Herz:
202-267-8173
FAX:202-267-5306
Attached is a summary of discussions held in Beijing on
Wednesday, April 16, 1997, on future civil-military air traffic
control cooperation between the United States and China. As you
know, following completion of U.S. Government (USG) policy
coordination, a small delegation traveled to Beijing to present
our options for FAA-led ATC civil-military programs under the
reconfigured ATC initiative. This activity was previously
conducted under the Joint Defense Conversion Commission which
was dissolved by then-Defense Secretary Perry in July 1996.
Long-range USG goals for China-US ATC cooperation are to
encourage China to plan, develop and implement a national ATC
systems architecture which includes CNS/ATM and a unified
manager integrating civil and military ATC service providers.
The U.S. delegation concluded that we achieved our immediate
objective and presented our proposal in a manner best designed
to elicit favorable reactions from all parties involved in ATC
management in China. We expect to receive a positive response
sometime during the summer 1997. In subsequent meetings in Los
Angeles (April 22) and San Francisco ( May 1), General
Administration of Civil Aviation of China's Vice Minister Bao
Peide stated his support for continued US-China ATC cooperation,
and pledged that he would personally facilitate a Chinese reply
to the ATC proposals.
I plan to ask Brad Mims to circulate the report to appropriate
Congressional Members and staff.
John R. Hancock
Attachments
Note: This memorandum was signed by API-1 and forwarded to
Administrator's Office on May 23, 1997
Civil-Military Air Traffic Control Discussion
Beijing, Wednesday April 16, 1997
Summary Report
Chinese attendees: See attached list
US Attendees:
From the Department of Defense:
Mr. Frank Colson, Executive Director, Department of Defense
Policy Board on Federal Aviation
Col. Karl Eikenberry, United States Army, Senior Country
Director for China, International Security Affairs, Office of
the Secretary of Defense;
Col. John Wolf, Air Attache, American Embassy, Beijing.
Major Leslie Bjornnes, Assistant Air Attache, American Embassy
Beijing
From the Federal Aviation Administration:
Mr. John Hancock, Deputy Director, Office of International
Aviation
Mr. Theodore Davies, Program Director, Research and Acquisitions
International Office;
Mr. Frank Price, Manager, Air Traffic International Staff;
Ms. Jean Herz, China Desk Officer, International Aviation
Office.
Ms. Li Jie, Staff Assistant, FAA Sr. Representative's Office,
Beijing
From the U.S. Embassy, Beijing:
Mr. Robert W. Forden, Economic Officer
Mr. Joel Fischl, Commercial Officer, U.S. Foreign Commercial
Service
1. Following opening pleasantries, John Hancock explained the
U.S. proposal and emphasized that it represented a fully
coordinated U.S. Government position.. (A translated copy had
been provided the Chinese side earlier, and copies were also
provided each delegation member at this meeting). At the
conclusion of his presentation, Hancock emphasized it was a
suggestion only; the U.S. side was prepared to discuss it in
further detail either in Beijing this week or in the United
States during the upcoming visit by the CNS-ATM group to San
Francisco. He stressed that he was "open" to discussion and
suggestions from the Chinese side.
2. On behalf of the Chinese delegation, Mr. Qu Yongxiu replied
that they were generally in favor of continued cooperation. He
said them were many players on the Chinese side, and they would
need time to evaluate the proposal and coordinate a response.
Mr. Qu gave his personal view that he was very positive about
the prospect for a renewal/continuation of civil/military ATC
cooperation between the U.S. and China. He will need to prepare
a coordinated report from all the Chinese agencies involved for
consideration by Vice Premier Zou Jiahua who heads up the State
Air Traffic Control Commission.
3. Sr. Col. Li spoke generally about good feelings among old
friends. He stated an interest in pursuing additional
cooperation. We understand informally from later discussions
that Col. Li believes there would be a positive response in
about 3 months.
4. CAAC hosted the meeting for the Chinese at the new Air
Traffic Management Bureau building. Director General Chen Xu Hua
was of course very positive about civil/military ATC
cooperation.
The US delegation believes we achieved our objective in
presenting our proposal in a manner best designed to elicit a
favorable reaction from all parties involved in ATC management
in China. We stressed the need to plan a systems architecture,
and the importance of establishing a unified system of
management for both civilian and military air traffic services.
We expect to receive a favorable reaction from the Chinese
sometime late in the summer or early fall of 1997.
Having a written proposal translated into Chinese to use as the
basis for discussion was very useful. We appreciate Defense
Department support in furnishing a power point version of the
proposal in both English and Chinese.
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