Fergie's Tech Blog

Defense Tech: CIA Blocks Book on Chinese Nuclear Weapons

Steven Aftergood writes on Secrecy News:

An eagerly awaited book on the history of the Chinese nuclear weapons program will not be published due to objections from the Central Intelligence Agency, which said it contains classified information.

A federal court last week ruled [.pdf] that the CIA was within its rights to block disclosure of 23 sections of a manuscript by former Los Alamos intelligence specialist Danny B. Stillman, who had brought a lawsuit asserting his First Amendment right to publish the volume.

During the 1990s, Mr. Stillman traveled to China nine times, including six trips that took place after his retirement in 1993. He visited nuclear weapons facilities and "engaged in extensive discussions with Chinese scientists, government officials, and nuclear weapons designers," resulting in a 506-page manuscript entitled "Inside China's Nuclear Weapons Program."

posted by Fergie @ 4/04/2007 11:07:00 AM