BALDRIGE OPPOSES JAPANESE PURCHASE OF FIRM Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige has asked the White House to consider blocking the planned Japanese acquisition of a major U.S. supercomputer and semiconductor manufacturer for national security reasons, U.S. officials said. The officials, who asked not to be named, said yesterday that Baldrige has "serious concerns" about the sale of Fairchild Semiconductor Corp. to Fujitsu Ltd., another major electronics firm. The officials told Reuters that if the sale went through it could leave the U.S. military overly dependent on a foreign /ompany for vital high technology equipment used in its advanced missiles, aircraft electronics and intelligence gathering. In addition, they said, the sale would also worsen the already strained trade relations between the U.S. and Japan stemming from the huge Japanese surplus. The White House Economic Policy Council would consider the sale in the coming weeks, they said. Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger's position was not immediately known but in the past he has opposed the transfer of high technology to foreign governments and companies. Supercomputers made by Fairchild and other U.S. manufacturers are widely used throughout the world, but none have been sold to the Japanese government or to Japanese government-run agencies and universities.