China continues secret N-tech sale to Pak: US

WASHINGTON, Aug 16: In a new revelation, a US State Department agency has said that China has violated a recent pledge not the provide nucl...

WASHINGTON, Aug 16: In a new revelation, a US State Department agency has said that China has violated a recent pledge not the provide nuclear weapons materials to facilities in Pakistan, operating without international safeguards.

The US Arms Control and Disarmament Agency’s (ACDA) annual report, quoted in today’s Washington Times, says that Beijing has continued to sell nuclear weapons-related technology despite its May 1996 pledge, a commitment that followed the earlier public exposure of Chinese sales of nuclear weapons technology to Pakistan.

According to the ACDA report, Beijing promised the United States in a May 11, 1996, statement that it would not provide assistance to so-called “unsafeguarded ” nuclear plants, facilities that are not subject to international anti-weapons controls and, thus, are locations where nuclear weapons work can be carried out.

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“Our current information does not provide a basis for concluding that China has acted consistently with that statement,” the ACDA report states adding “questions remain about contacts between Chinese entities and elements associated with Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programme.”

The report noted that the evidence of continued Chinese nuclear transfers was insufficient to conclude Beijing has violated the 1968 nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty.

The daily said the findings are expected to prompt further criticism in Congress of the Clinton administration’s policies aimed at halting the spread of nuclear arms. Republican Congressional leaders have said the administration has ignored Beijing’s weapons proliferation activities, including sales of missiles and nuclear and chemical know-how.