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U.S. won't link China sanctions to war effort

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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