WASHINGTON Ñ China continues to deny U.S. assertions that it has transferred missile components and technology to Middle East clients.

The denial came during the current visit by a delegation of U.S. Senate leaders to Beijing. The senators raised U.S. allegations that despite the pledge of a Chinese ban, Beijing continues to relay missile technology to such countries as Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Syria.

On Wednesday, the delegation, led by Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Sen. Joseph Biden, met Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Defense Minister Chi Haotian. Jiang maintained that China has kept its commitments to the United State on nonproliferation.

"I asked specifically what China's position was on whether or not either North Korea or Iran gained access to long-range ballistic missiles," Biden said. "He said it was not in China's interest for that to happen."

Another delegation member, Sen. Arlen Specter, said Beijing is believed to have been supplying missile technology to Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Specter said U.S. trade is dependent on the end of China's missile proliferation.

In the latest allegation, U.S. intelligence sources said a Chinese state-run company has transferred missile components to Pakistan. The company, China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corporation, has denied the allegation, published in the Washington Times on Tuesday.

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