BEIJING, Aug. 22 -- North Korea will not be allowed to use China as a back door to evade international sanctions designed to prevent it from exporting weapons of mass destruction, a senior Chinese arms control official said today.
However, the official said, China had serious reservations about a U.S.-led plan, called the Proliferation Security Initiative, in which a group of 11 countries has agreed to stop and search planes and ships suspected of carrying banned weapons or missile technology. North Korea and Iran were named as countries of particular concern.
"China is fully opposed to proliferation," said Liu Jieyi, director of the arms control and disarmament department at the Foreign Ministry, in an interview. But, he added, China was concerned that the way the group will carry out interdiction activities and the quality of intelligence that it might use "could make a bad situation worse."
Liu's comments came five days before a critical six-nation gathering in Beijing. China, Russia, the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet with North Korea and try to persuade it to abandon its nuclear weapons programs. If the talks fail, U.S. officials have said they are ready to launch an international effort aimed at halting North Korea's sales of weapons technology and other controlled items.
Most analysts agree that if a naval blockade is set up around North Korea, it will attempt to move its weapons and weapons technology through China to third countries. China was North Korea's main ally in the Korean War, but Beijing has not supported North Korea's latest program to build a nuclear device.
Liu said China had enacted a series of laws designed to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and, referring to North Korea, said "we do not make exceptions." However, he said his government was uncomfortable with the Proliferation Security Initiative because, in addition to other things, the techniques that might be used to board ships and inspect cargo could prompt a military confrontation. North Korea has warned that it would view any such behavior as an act of war. Liu said that China was also concerned about whether the intelligence used to search ships would be faulty.
"In China," he said, "we have a saying: You should not shoot a mosquito with a cannon. The collateral damage could be worse and you may miss the mosquito."
Liu also said that China's government was investigating several cases of Chinese companies trying to export weapons-related technology.
"There are cases under investigation or in the midst of legal proceedings," he said. "Those found to have violated laws and regulations will be punished, and we are looking at serious punishments." He said that in other cases, the government had levied fines or administrative sanctions on Chinese companies caught violating new rules controlling the export of weapons of mass destruction and related technology.
"China is a big country. To reach all the companies in the shortest period of time is a challenging task," Liu said. "I cannot say it's been all problem-free, but we're devoting a lot of energy and time to this."
"The enforcement of the laws and regulations is strict," he said.
Bush administration officials disagree. Chinese companies, they say, continue to trade in dual use-technology that can be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. Over the last two years, the United States has sanctioned more than a dozen Chinese companies, including such industrial giants as Norinco, a large military-backed firm, for allegedly trading in weapons technology, mostly with Iran.
Liu said China was disappointed with the Bush administration's recent moves to sanction Chinese companies, saying the U.S. policy was not "conducive to the non-proliferation efforts that the Chinese government is engaged in."
Specifically, he noted, U.S. policy did not seem based on Chinese violations of any international or bilateral agreements. "The Americans never gave us any information about what the Chinese firms allegedly did wrong," he said. "So it's impossible for us to investigate."
As a result, he said, China has concluded that the United States is sanctioning Chinese companies simply because it wants them to stop doing business with Iran.
"We feel these sanctions are not about export controls or proliferation," he said. "They are about the political relationship between the United States and Iran. The Chinese companies are simply the victim of a hostile relationship between the U.S. and Iran."
Under pressure from the United States, China has enacted a series of laws and regulations to control its weapons exports. It has joined the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and another treaty which bans chemical weapons. It has also agreed to most of the provisions of the Missile Control Technology Regime and other international agreements designed to stem the flood of weapons of mass destruction.
Liu declined to say how many cases Chinese officials were investigating, or what products were involved. He also said that the government has rejected export applications for products because of proliferation concerns. And in several cases, he said, investigators were able to stop "some of these transactions even prior to a formal application being submitted," again because of proliferation concerns.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34407-2003Aug22.html
However, the official said, China had serious reservations about a U.S.-led plan, called the Proliferation Security Initiative, in which a group of 11 countries has agreed to stop and search planes and ships suspected of carrying banned weapons or missile technology. North Korea and Iran were named as countries of particular concern.
"China is fully opposed to proliferation," said Liu Jieyi, director of the arms control and disarmament department at the Foreign Ministry, in an interview. But, he added, China was concerned that the way the group will carry out interdiction activities and the quality of intelligence that it might use "could make a bad situation worse."
Liu's comments came five days before a critical six-nation gathering in Beijing. China, Russia, the United States, Japan and South Korea will meet with North Korea and try to persuade it to abandon its nuclear weapons programs. If the talks fail, U.S. officials have said they are ready to launch an international effort aimed at halting North Korea's sales of weapons technology and other controlled items.
Most analysts agree that if a naval blockade is set up around North Korea, it will attempt to move its weapons and weapons technology through China to third countries. China was North Korea's main ally in the Korean War, but Beijing has not supported North Korea's latest program to build a nuclear device.
Liu said China had enacted a series of laws designed to stem the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and, referring to North Korea, said "we do not make exceptions." However, he said his government was uncomfortable with the Proliferation Security Initiative because, in addition to other things, the techniques that might be used to board ships and inspect cargo could prompt a military confrontation. North Korea has warned that it would view any such behavior as an act of war. Liu said that China was also concerned about whether the intelligence used to search ships would be faulty.
"In China," he said, "we have a saying: You should not shoot a mosquito with a cannon. The collateral damage could be worse and you may miss the mosquito."
Liu also said that China's government was investigating several cases of Chinese companies trying to export weapons-related technology.
"There are cases under investigation or in the midst of legal proceedings," he said. "Those found to have violated laws and regulations will be punished, and we are looking at serious punishments." He said that in other cases, the government had levied fines or administrative sanctions on Chinese companies caught violating new rules controlling the export of weapons of mass destruction and related technology.
"China is a big country. To reach all the companies in the shortest period of time is a challenging task," Liu said. "I cannot say it's been all problem-free, but we're devoting a lot of energy and time to this."
"The enforcement of the laws and regulations is strict," he said.
Bush administration officials disagree. Chinese companies, they say, continue to trade in dual use-technology that can be used to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. Over the last two years, the United States has sanctioned more than a dozen Chinese companies, including such industrial giants as Norinco, a large military-backed firm, for allegedly trading in weapons technology, mostly with Iran.
Liu said China was disappointed with the Bush administration's recent moves to sanction Chinese companies, saying the U.S. policy was not "conducive to the non-proliferation efforts that the Chinese government is engaged in."
Specifically, he noted, U.S. policy did not seem based on Chinese violations of any international or bilateral agreements. "The Americans never gave us any information about what the Chinese firms allegedly did wrong," he said. "So it's impossible for us to investigate."
As a result, he said, China has concluded that the United States is sanctioning Chinese companies simply because it wants them to stop doing business with Iran.
"We feel these sanctions are not about export controls or proliferation," he said. "They are about the political relationship between the United States and Iran. The Chinese companies are simply the victim of a hostile relationship between the U.S. and Iran."
Under pressure from the United States, China has enacted a series of laws and regulations to control its weapons exports. It has joined the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and another treaty which bans chemical weapons. It has also agreed to most of the provisions of the Missile Control Technology Regime and other international agreements designed to stem the flood of weapons of mass destruction.
Liu declined to say how many cases Chinese officials were investigating, or what products were involved. He also said that the government has rejected export applications for products because of proliferation concerns. And in several cases, he said, investigators were able to stop "some of these transactions even prior to a formal application being submitted," again because of proliferation concerns.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34407-2003Aug22.html
