U.S. defends China nuclear group support
18 May 2004 23:32:03 GMT
By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent
WASHINGTON, May 18 (Reuters) - The Bush administration defended on Tuesday its backing of China's entry into an influential nuclear export group despite Beijing's insistence on providing atomic reactors to Pakistan and concerns it continues to export dangerous technology and missiles.
At a congressional hearing, lawmakers questioned whether U.S. support for China's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group might be a mistake and accused the administration of getting nothing in return for the endorsement.
"I don't think this has been well thought out," Democratic Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York told Assistant Secretary of State John Wolf, who handles non-proliferation matters.
Calling China "one of the principal sinners in the spread of nuclear technology," Chairman Henry Hyde of the U.S. House of Representatives International Relations Committee voiced worries about "discrepancies in China's intentions."
The Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), established in 1976, controls exports of equipment and materials that can be used to make nuclear weapons.
President George W. Bush recently agreed to back Beijing's membership bid, but only after a bitter debate between administration moderates and hardliners.
NSG guidelines require members to withhold certain nuclear transfers "when there is an unacceptable risk of diversion to such (nuclear weapons) activity."
But China recently agreed to provide a second civilian nuclear power reactor to Pakistan, which has a nuclear arms program outside of international controls. Until his recent detention, top Pakistani nuclear official Abdul Qadeer Khan ran a global network that sold atomic secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
INTEGRATION ADVOCATED
Under sharp questioning from Ackerman, Wolf said the administration had not sought to read for itself the China-Pakistan reactor contract and had not asked China to encourage Islamabad to tighten its export controls.
Explaining Bush's support for China's membership, Wolf stressed China's improving ties with the United States, active support of the U.S. war on terrorism and financial support for reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He denied the administration backed NSG membership so China would buy U.S.-made nuclear power reactors, although the administration has urged Beijing to buy American.
Washington has long sought to integrate China into global institutions, and China in recent years has undertaken a "broad-scale cessation" of nuclear cooperation with Iran and acted to control nuclear and dual-use exports, Wolf said.
A senior U.S. official is in Beijing this week for the first-ever detailed discussions on Chinese export controls.
Rep. Tom Lantos of California, the panel's senior Democrat, said: "There is little evidence the Chinese government has actively sought out and punished ... proliferators."
Wolf acknowledged Beijing has not totally stopped the trade in chemical arms, missiles and nuclear technology and that is why the United States continues to sanction Chinese entities.
So far, nine of the 40 NSG countries -- including the United States and Russia -- have endorsed China's membership and a decision may be made at a board meeting this month, Wolf said in written testimony.
But the matter is complicated by European politics. Estonia, Lithuania and Malta have also applied and Russia has balked at the Baltics. As a result, 21 European Union countries asked to discuss all four applications at the NSG meeting.
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