U.S. defends China nuclear group support

[J-10]

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.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N18305158.htm

China in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)
http://www.state.gov/t/np/rls/rm/32570.htm

[2RHPZ]

Posted 25 May, 2004 10:25

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Czech Republic Definitely Cancels Radar Sale License to China
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, PRAGUE


The Czech Republic has definitively backed down on a controversial deal to sell Czech radar, capable of detecting stealth aircraft, to China, a Ministry of Trade and Industry spokesman told Agence France-Presse on May 25.

Czech company Omnipol was granted a two-year export license to China for six units of the sophisticated equipment worth approximately 1.5 billion koruna (47 million euros, $56 million) in January by the ministry of industry and trade.

But the license was revoked May 25, several days after a press report here said the United States was ready to bid on the Vera radar system in order to keep it from falling into the hands of the Chinese.



?The license has been withdrawn,? Ministry Spokesman Ivo Mravinac said, adding that the move was concluded by the ministry May 24.

Asked why the decision was reversed, Mravinac said only that the ministry was following government orders.

The decision was taken May 19 in a closed-door ministerial session, and ministries were ordered to revoke the export license needed for the sale.

Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla earlier said that exporting the radar to China ?was not in the country?s interests.?

Manufactured by the company Era, which is based in Pardubice, 100 kilometers east of Prague, the Vera radar system is an updated version of the Tamar system which was reportedly used by Serb forces to shoot down a U.S. F-117A stealth fighter in March 1999.

The equipment had not yet been exported to China.

According to the Czech Ministry of Defense, several other countries have expressed interest in buying the system.

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