The captured EP-3 was equipped with the latest version of the Link-11 system, code named "story book." However, the Chinese navy has already been using a stolen version of the system, called Link-W.

Japanese officials are concerned because they use the system in two Boeing 767 spyplanes which have missions to operate surveillance against China. These aircraft are also equipped with radar to watch aircraft and missile launches inside China. Japan is concerned about the compromise of the codes because their Link-11 system may be jammed in case of war with China, preventing them from passing important data.

Pentagon sources are convinced that the April 1 incident was no accident. Several other incidents of Chinese fighters flying too close to American recon aircraft have occurred before, but they were dismissed by Pentagon officials as lone actions by "hot- shot" pilots. But now it appears that the previous incidents were attempts to force a US spy plane down on Chinese territory so they could steal whatever secrets they could from the aircraft. Chinese pilots operate under a strict Soviet-style control system which would not allow them to fly close passes to other aircraft without permission. So there's no doubt that this was a deliberate action.

In Miami, a court has found five Cubans guilty of spying on the US for Cuba. The spies, who were arrested in Florida in 1998, are believed to be part of the largest ever Cuban spy ring operating in the US. All five were found guilty of operating as foreign agents, and three of them were found guilty of trying to infiltrate US military bases. One of the defendants, Gerardo Hernandez, faces life in prison for his part in the deaths of four Americans after their small airplane was shot down in 1996. The four Americans were part of the organization "Brothers to the Rescue," a group of exiled Cubans whose purpose is to try to help other Cubans leave the country. Their aircraft was shot down by a Cuban Air Force pilot.

The five agents consisted of three Cuban intelligence agents and two US citizens. They admitted to acting on orders from the Cuban government. Of course you and I know how they got those orders - they begin with "atencion" and end with "finale." According to the BBC news online, the group used coded computer disks, high-frequency radio transmissions and electronic phone messages to try to infiltrate the US Southern Command Headquarters in Miami as well as exile groups. The group maintained that their sole purpose was to infiltrate Cuban exile groups.

Maybe that's what their mission was supposed to be, but due to all the technical difficulties from the Cuban numbers stations, their orders got screwed up... OK, seriously, I would like to ask the spies what it was like receiving their messages from those stations when they constantly have transmitter or tape problems. Must have been frustrating.

See you all next month.