The Bush administration will impose sanctions today on a major Chinese arms manufacturer because it transferred sensitive missile technology to Pakistan despite assurances by Beijing last year that it would refrain from these exports, according to the State Department.
A department official said yesterday the United States would place sanctions on the China Metallurgical Equipment Corp., a private company that administration officials say works closely with the Chinese government, and at the same time on the National Development Complex of Pakistan, which received the missile technology.
The decision to take these punitive measures comes a week after a U.S. delegation to Beijing headed by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Vann Van Diepen failed to break a deadlock over U.S. demands that China halt the transfer of technology for missiles that can carry nuclear warheads. Last-ditch negotiations in recent days also proved unsuccessful, officials said.
The new American measures could further sour relations between the United States and China, which have begun to rebound after an tough spell in the opening months of the Bush administration. With President Bush scheduled to visit China late next month, the two countries have tried to move beyond their dispute this spring when a U.S. Navy surveillance plane and its crew were detained on Hainan Island after colliding with a Chinese jet.
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell raised American concerns about missile proliferation during a visit to Beijing in July and warned that the administration might impose sanctions unless China adhered to an agreement reached last November. Under that accord, the United States agreed to issue licenses for American companies to launch satellites on Chinese rockets.
Powell and his Chinese counterparts agreed during his trip to resume talks on weapons proliferation. The two sides had not discussed this matter since last November, when China agreed not to help other countries build missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. U.S. diplomats had filed formal protests with China alleging that it had violated the agreement numerous times by providing missiles or missile technology to Pakistan and other countries.
Both Chinese and Pakistani officials have denied allegations of missile technology sales.
But a State Department official said yesterday that China's transfer of Category 2 technology had contributed to Pakistan's missile program, flouting the international guidelines established to govern the proliferation of missile parts and technology. Under the Missile Technology Control Regime, Category 1 refers to whole missiles while Category 2 includes constituent parts and technology.
As a result, the administration has also been considering whether to suspend the issuance of licenses for U.S. companies to place their satellites on Chinese rockets and make it illegal to transfer American technology to China's satellite industry. The Los Angeles Times reported in today's editions that the United States has decided to take these punitive actions.
These steps, which could set back China's efforts to develop its industry, may also prove painful for some American companies that have seen Chinese rockets as a relatively inexpensive way to place their satellites into orbit.
The Bush administration has said it is worried about recent reports that China was providing sensitive missile technology to Pakistan. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, pressed Beijing during a recent visit there to end these transfers and called for sanctions to be placed on Chinese companies that are shown to be helping Pakistan's missile program.
U.S. officials have at the same time expressed concern about what they say are Pakistani attempts to develop a nuclear missile program. The United States imposed sanctions on Pakistan and India after both countries tested nuclear weapons in 1998. India and Pakistan have a long-standing border conflict over Kashmir and their development of nuclear weapons, security analysts say, has made South Asia potentially the most dangerous place in the world.
While Sino-American relations have
been complex and often difficult for decades, the United States long had
close relations with Pakistan, especially when it was a crucial Cold War
ally. But those ties have grown estranged in recent years and not only
because of Pakistan's nuclear program. U.S. officials have also expressed
dissatisfaction with the 1999 military coup by Gen. Pervez Musharraf that
ousted democratically elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and with Pakistan's
ties to the Taliban movement ruling much of Afghanistan.