(October 18, 1996) Tension rose as the American newspaper Washington Times published on October 9 a report about secret sales of nuclear-related technical installations to Pakistan, violating a May 11 agreement.
(460.4564) WISE Amsterdam - At that time, there was already a Washington Timesarticle uncovering a China-to-Pakistan nuclear-related sale, then of magnetic rings, usable for gas centrifuges which could produce nuclear weapons fuel. The Chinese government asserted that it was not aware of the deal carried out by a Chinese company. This prevented the U.S. from imposing economic sanctions on China, which promised not to secretly sell any nuclear devices in the future.
Now the Washington Times quoted what it said to be a September 14 top-secret memorandum of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), according to which the State Department sent a diplomatic note to China on August 30, protesting against the alleged delivery of a special industrial furnance and high-tech diagnostic equipment to be used in Pakistan's nuclear facilities. These facilities are now subject of international inspection.
This affair means a serious threat to what had been warm relations between the U.S. and China. Recently, a series of high-level talks began with great hope. "Chinese positions have evolved in a very constructive direction," said John Holum, director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Things like the visit of Taiwan's president Lee in the U.S., the Chinese military exercises near the Taiwanese shore, the Chinese-Iranian cooperation on nuclear power, and the supposed sale of missile technology to Pakistan in August this year had put Chinese-U.S. relations at a low ebb. "We're starting to get past that and to renew the strategic dialogue," Holum pointed out. U.S. government spokesman Nicolas Burns on October 9 claimed that "senior-level people in this government have looked at these specific charges and, based on information available to us, we do not conclude that China has violated the commitments it made in its May 11 statement". Of course, Chinese and Pakistani officials deny any illegal transfer. "We routinely raise our concerns about these issues with the Chinese," Holum concluded.
Source: Reuter, 9 October 96
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