U.S. won't link China sanctions to war effort
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SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Wednesday, December 5, 2001
WASHINGTON Ñ The Bush administration doesn't intend to link U.S.
sanctions on Chinese missile proliferation to Beijing's participation in the
war against terrorism.
U.S. officials said the administration has kept the issues separate.
They said this means that Washington will not lift sanctions from Chinese
companies deemed as missile proliferators regardless of Beijing's
cooperation in anti-terrorism efforts.
Chinese and U.S. officials met over the weekend to discuss
proliferation. The administration has accused China of violating a pledge of
more than a year ago to end missile sales to Pakistan and Middle East
clients.
State Department officials said the talks were productive. They did not
elaborate.
"The parameters of what we want to do on nonproliferation are quite
clear," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "The parameters of
our cooperation on terrorism are also quite clear."
On Sept. 1, the Bush administration imposed sanctions on a Chinese
state-owned firm it deemed as having transferred missile technology to
Pakistan. China has denied the accusation.
The administration is also pressing North Korea to agree to
International Atomic Energy Agency verification to ensure that Pyongyang is
complying with nuclear safeguard agreements in 1992. The verification is
being demanded for the United States to fulfill its agreement to build a
nuclear reactor in North Korea.
Officials said North Korea has asserted that it would take another three
years to comply with the verification requirement. They said construction of
the nuclear reactor has already begun.
"This has to be done before they get to a certain stage in
construction," Boucher said. "Otherwise it can't proceed. In order to do
that on time, the schedule means that they have to start now."
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