China is sharing space technology with North Korea, a move that could boost Pyongyang's long-range missile program, White House and Pentagon officials told The Washington Times.

The space cooperation was discovered by the National Security Agency late last year and revealed to senior Clinton administration officials recently in sensitive intelligence reports.

China and North Korea are working jointly to develop space satellites, officials familiar with the reports said.

The reports are alarming because North Korea used a long-range Taepodong missile in August to try to place a satellite in orbit. They also heighten fears among some Pentagon officials that militarily useful U.S. satellite technology, shared improperly with China in 1995 and 1996, may have been given to the North Koreans.

"There have been some scientific contacts with the North Koreans and the Chinese in the satellite area," said a senior national security official.

Because of the sensitive sources used to collect the information, officials refused to discuss details about the cooperation.

The senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said in an interview that the cooperation involves exchanges of scientists and technology. The reports showed that China is "working with North Korea on a satellite, with the expectation that it would be launched into space," he said.

The official said there are worries about the cooperation, but so far U.S. intelligence agencies have not confirmed that the space technology is linked to the development of the North Korea's long-range Taepodong missile, which was test-fired for the first time with a satellite Aug. 31.

The CIA discovered that the missile carried a solid-fuel third stage. It attempted to launch a small satellite that broke apart before reaching orbit. The missile and third stage appeared to have advanced technology features needed for long-range missiles and warheads.

At the Pentagon, officials appeared more concerned about the new reports. A Pentagon official familiar with the Chinese-North Korean exchanges said he believes the space technology cooperation will likely boost Pyongyang's missile program, both the long-range Taepodongs and medium-range Nodongs.

The knowhow for space launches is almost identical to that used for missiles, and nations use space development efforts as a cover for long-range missile programs.

"They are so interconnected there is just no way you can separate them out," the official said.

A third U.S. official with access to intelligence also said the satellite cooperation is more clear than the missile-technology links.

Chinese Embassy Press Counselor Cui Jianjun called reports of space cooperation with North Korea "groundless."

"China has carried out strict and effective control of missile and satellite-launch technology, so there is no such thing as China providing assistance to the Korean satellite development program," Mr. Cui said.

Another Pentagon official said the cooperation, detected in late August or early September, included travel to North Korea by scientists from the Chinese Academy of Launch Technology, which has worked in the past with U.S. satellite manufacturers.

The Pentagon has linked the launch academy, part of the Chinese defense-industry complex, to Hughes Space and Communications Co.'s improper sharing of U.S. satellite technology in 1995. A Pentagon report issued in December concluded that U.S. technology shared with China during a launch-failure probe may have violated rules against improving Beijing's satellite and missile capabilities and raised "national security concerns" about "potentially contributing to China's missile capabilities."

Another Pentagon report on a 1996 Chinese booster that failed to launch a U.S. satellite concluded that "U.S. national security was harmed" by the improper sharing of technology with China by Hughes and another satellite maker, Loral Space & Communications Ltd.

The Chinese-North Korean cooperation has worried some White House officials, who view the exchanges as undermining the Clinton administration's conciliatory policies toward China.

The technology transfers also could violate the 29-nation Missile Technology Control Regime, which China promised to "study" joining.

The MTCR is an export-control pact that bars transfers of certain missile-related technology, including space technology that could be applied to missiles.

China's role in supplying missile technology around the world was highlighted by CIA Director George Tenet in recent Senate testimony. "Both the Chinese government and Chinese firms have long-standing and deep relations with proliferant countries, and we are not convinced that China's companies fully share the commitments undertaken by senior Chinese leaders," Mr. Tenet told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 2. "In short, our guard remains up on this question."

A congressional defense aide said that Mr. Tenet also testified that foreign assistance is a key factor in the spread of global missile technology. "This demonstrates that along with Russia, China continues to assist rogue nations in their efforts to increase the range of their ballistic missiles," the aide said. "Further, it demonstrates that Chinese pledges to abide by the MTCR provision are completely lacking sincerity."

The last time U.S. intelligence uncovered evidence of Chinese-North Korean missile cooperation was 1995. Intelligence reports at that time indicated some 200 North Korean missile specialists had traveled to China for training.

"Thanks to the actions of Hughes and Loral in 1995 and 1996, the best U.S. knowhow may well have been transmitted to North Korea through this Chinese conduit," said the aide.

In 1994, the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency reported that it believed China had helped design the Taepodong-2 missile because its first-stage diameter is very close in size to China's CSS-2 intermediate-range missiles.

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