China Says Scientist Visited, but Not as Spy

China’s state-run media said Monday that a Taiwan-born American scientist suspected of passing missile secrets to Beijing traveled here twice, but did so only to discuss “basic scientific matters.”

The comments marked the most detailed and irate denials yet that Wen Ho Lee, a scientist who worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, provided China with the technical know-how for building missiles with multiple warheads similar to the United States’ most advanced W-88 warhead. Lee was fired this month by the Energy Department for having unauthorized contacts in China.

A congressional committee probing espionage and improper Chinese efforts to obtain American high technology found multiple security violations at U.S. nuclear labs. The committee, headed by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), is expected to make more of its findings public.

The allegations have further complicated Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji’s planned trip to Washington next month. The Sino-U.S. relationship has been hit by a series of setbacks since President Clinton’s visit to China in June, when he sought to enshrine a “strategic partnership” with Beijing.