Jan 9 1980
From The Space Library
The New York Times reported from Beijing that the United States had agreed to sell the People's Republic of China (PRC) a ground station for reception of Landsat Earth-resources data that might have military applications. Defense Secretary Harold Brown, on an eight-day tour, made the announcement after a two-hour meeting with PRC Deputy Prime Minister Deng Xiaoping. The PRC sought to buy such a station more than a year ago; Landsat instruments collected data for agriculture, forestry, drought prevention, and oil and mineral exploration, and 20 nations (none Communist) had already bought Landsat ground stations.
Brown's trip, the first by a senior Department of Defense (DOD) official to China since the Communists came to power in 1949. originally was for general broadening of contacts to inform the United States of Peking defense strategy in the post-Mao era. The Carter administration apparently decided last week to use the visit to give Moscow the impression of greater cooperation between Beijing and Washington, in view of the Soviet thrust into Afghanistan. (NY Times, Jan 9/80, A9)
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