S hortly before the 1996 general election, reports surfaced that six sensitivemachine tools had gone from McDonnell Douglas Corporation to the Nanchang Aircraft Company, which produces fighters and cruise missiles for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, in direct violation of U.S. export controls.1

The chair of the House National Security Committee, Floyd Spence (R-SC), requested reports on this and other sales of sensitive equipment to China. Several members of Congress quickly used this case to tar Clinton export control policy. Despite the flurry of charges, these accusations had little resonance in the campaign. Where previous administrations had proved vulnerable, the Clinton administration seemed impervious to these tactics. In part this came from the substance of the case itself.