An administration official said the waiver covers all C-130s, military or civilian, "but is intended for those used by oil spill companies, which routinely use them."
"This waiver doesn't lift the U.S. license requirement and doesn't provide any kind of blanket authorization," the official said. "We would still process license applications on a case-by-case basis. This is merely for contingency plans — to get material to the site wherever an environmental disaster occurs."
Chinese human rights advocate Liu Xiaobo, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, said over the weekend that he dedicated the prize to the victims of Tiananmen Square, according to his wife, Liu Xia.
Mrs. Liu told reporters that Mr. Liu said on Sunday of the prize: "This is for the lost souls of June 4" — the date used to described the events of the 1989 massacre in which hundreds and perhaps thousands of Chinese were killed when military tanks and armored vehicles fired on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing's main square.
The waiver also appears linked to the current visit to Vietnam by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who on Monday repeated U.S. concerns about growing Chinese assertiveness over the South China Sea. "The U.S. has a long-standing national interest in freedom of navigation and open access to Asia's maritime commons," Mr. Gates said.
Vietnam is said by U.S. officials to be worried about growing Chinese territorial encroachment in the resource-rich South China Sea, which China has in the past declared off-limits to non-Chinese fishing vessels.
China also set off alarms among governments in the region in August by announcing it has planted a Chinese flag on the floor of the South China Sea, using a mini-submarine.
The China Times report quoted Chinese Col. Zhao Xiaozhuo of the Academy of Military Science as saying the U.S. should sell military goods like C-130s to China.
"As a tactical transport, C-130 cargo aircraft serve for middle-ranged deliveries — that is, the distance is within the [battlefield] theater," said Col. Zhao.
The C-130, first flown in 1954, is considered one of the world's premier military transports that can take off and land on rough airstrips. The aircraft is used widely by U.S. special forces commandos, for parachute troops, to launch drones and for dropping 10,000-pound bombs.
© Copyright 2010 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.
