A step towards ITAR reform, or something else?

The Washington Times reported today that the Obama Administration has quietly moved to shift authority for approval of missile and space technology to China. Under a presidential determination issued on September 29, the president delegated authority to the Secretary of Commerce “the functions of the President under section 1512 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (NDAA).” That section of law, part of the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act for FY1999, requires that the president certify to Congress at least 15 days before any export of “missile equipment or technology” to China that the export does not hurt the US space launch industry and that the technology “will not measurably improve” China’s missiles and space launch capabilities.

The Times article, by Bill Gertz, gets plenty of quotes from conservative experts convinced that the decision is a “step backward”, “foolish”, “dangerous”, and even “shocking”, while Commerce Department officials say the move won’t cause the controls on such exports to become looser. What isn’t answered by the article, though, is why the administration made the move. Gertz speculates that the move “appears aimed at increasing U.S.-China space cooperation” but leaves it at that.

This moves comes while export control reform for space issues is being debated and discussed (and working its way through Congress). Is this move by the White House a step towards greater reform, or is an unrelated move with other intentions?