Posted on 06/08/2002 2:37:44 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A senior career U.S. trade official who played a key role in forging a landmark pact with China is being investigated by the FBI and has been placed on administrative leave, the U.S. Trade Representative's office said on Friday.
Senior U.S. trade adviser Christina Lund was informed last month that her security clearance had been suspended because of allegations that she had improperly released sensitive information, friends of Lund told Reuters.
Lund, a lead negotiator on the trade agreement that paved the way for China's entrance into the World Trade Organization, has been put on administrative leave while the FBI carries out its probe, USTR spokesman Ricardo Reyes said. Reyes said he could not provide any further details on the case.
Reached for comment, Lund said she also could not discuss her case. The FBI's Washington field office said it had no comment.
Lund's situation began when she arrived for work on May 17 and discovered that her security pass did not work to get her into the building, according to a friend of Lund who spoke on condition of anonymity. Lund later was questioned by a USTR security official, the friend added, with most of the questions seemingly related to Chile and Japan.
Some time earlier, there had been a furor at USTR that documents related to one or both of those countries had been leaked to Inside U.S. Trade, a weekly publication that closely follows trade issues, the friend said.
Lund was sent home and received a letter the following day confirming her security clearance had been suspended, the friend said.
A week later, the FBI searched her apartment looking for financial documents, the friend said. The FBI also took several other items, including pictures, old passports and her Peace Corps identification card from the 1970s, the friend said.
Jutta Hennig, chief editor of Inside U.S. Trade, acknowledged obtaining documents related to Chile trade negotiations, but said Lund was not the source.
"While we routinely do not comment on sources, we can in this instance categorically deny that Christina Lund was in any way, directly or indirectly, the source of our receipt of the Chile documents," Hennig said.
Hennig also said her publication had not gotten any information from Lund about Japan.
Dick Self, a former deputy assistant U.S. trade representative now working at a Washington law firm, said he found it hard to believe that Lund had leaked any documents.
"My concern is that this is an individual who has a good track record, not only as person who has a history of discretion with documents, but as one of the best negotiators at USTR," Self said. "This is a particularly talented individual that they are punishing."
Self said he knew of no other instance in which someone at USTR had been put on administrative leave over such an allegation.
"I guess all I can say is they better have it right, because if they don't, it sends a very, very unfortunate message about USTR," Self said.
At least they had the decency to give her plenty of time to clean things up.
Nice to be an insider.
Wow! That's cold.
Acting Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, Office of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
Christina Lund has served as a professional trade negotiator at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative since 1985, representing the United States in Asia, Latin America and Europe. She has served as Deputy in the China office since 1997, and was responsible primarily for negotiating China's service commitments to the United States as part of its accession to the World Trade Organization. During the Uruguay Round of global trade negotiations, Ms. Lund served in Geneva for five years as a member of the U.S. permanent mission to the World Trade Organization.
Ms. Lund first moved to Washington, D.C. from California in 1979. She was responsible for U.S. debt relief operations and foreign assistance at the Office of Management and Budget, and has served as a professional staff member in the U.S. Senate and as an economist at the Environmental Protection Agency. She has been the recipient of numerous awards from the government and U.S. private sector.
Ms. Lund earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of California at Berkeley, and was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Congo, Africa, from 1975 to 1977.
Copyright © 1998-2001 by Harvard China Review. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this publication in any form without prior written permission is prohibited.
At least they had the decency to give her plenty of time to clean things up.
I thought along the same lines. Want to bet they didn't find anything particularly useful. They should've done it the same day that they closed her out.
Does she have a paper shredder at home?
They are also insisting on their own definition of large-scale commercial risk. Ms. Lund insists that the U.S. position will remain firm in opposition to Chinese demands. However, if other difficult issues can be resolved (agriculture, for example) then the insurance issues could be the subject of compromise. Currently, no further discussions with the Chinese are scheduled during February. The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) stated China's insurance sector reported a 14.5% year on year increase in premium income in 2000.
What are we not seeing??
what's the rest of the story???
B/c a breach of confidentiality is the cause, doubt we'll get any more info......
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.