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China providing advanced aid in long-range missiles to Iran, Syria

SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, June 5, 2000

WASHINGTON -- China is helping Syria and Iran to develop long-range missiles.

Beijing is helping Iran and Syria develop advanced surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, Sunday, quoted an unnamed United States source as saying.

China is selling to Iran materials for the development of solid rocket fuels and for setting up a plant to manufacture the NP 110 missile engine, the U.S. source said. China has already constructed a fully equipped missile range with telemetry equipment for long-range ballistic missiles in Iran. China is also transferring missile-guidance technologies, including satellite sensors, to Iran. The systems are applicable to both long-range ballistic missiles and short-range Scuds.

At the same time, China is setting up a similar missile engine plant in Syria, according to Middle East Newsline. Damascus already possesses the new Scud D long-range ballistic missile with a range of 700 kilometers, recently purchased from North Korea.

Israel has protested to China on several occasions about the sale of advanced of ballistic missile technology to Arab states, Ha'aretz quoted unnamed Israeli sources as saying. The most recent protest was during last month's visit to Israel by China's President Jiang Zemin, when Israel sought to conclude a $250 million deal to sell China the Phalcon airborne early-warning system.

Washington continues to oppose the deal and U.S. officials have criticized Israel for turning a blind eye to China's supply of advanced military technology to Iran, considered a "rogue state" by the U.S.

For its part, Israel says it's committed to pushing through the Phalcon sale, despite U.S. opposition. Israeli officials have criticized Washington for maintaining a double standard by ignoring Russia's supply of missile technology to Iran while censoring China for its missile development program in Iran and Syria.

Israeli officials have said that Jerusalem has clout with Beijing and will attempt to pressure the Chinese to restrict the sale of missile technology to Arab states. Israel was successful in the past in blocking the sale of China's M9 surface-to-surface missiles to Syria.

Until now, China has adhered to international restrictions on the sale of complete missile systems by supplying client states only missile parts. China has also limited its sales to Arab states of advanced technologies used in developing nuclear weapons.

On the other hand, Russia recently eased its restrictions on the sale of nuclear materials to countries, including Iran, that haven't yet signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty or have refused verification of their civilian nuclear programs by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Monday, June 5, 2000

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