Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

China Suspected of Undermining Missile Proliferation Controls


A recent report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service cautions that China could be undermining international efforts to limit the spread of missile technology through its dealings with Iran, Pakistan and North Korea (see GSN, May 26).
The Congressional Research Service report on conventional arms transfers to the developing world states that "credible reports persist in various publications that China has sold surface-to-surface missiles to Pakistan. North Korea and Iran have also reportedly received Chinese missile technology, which may have increased their
capabilities to threaten other countries in their respective neighborhoods.
Such activities reported by credible sources raise important questions about China’s stated commitment to the restrictions on missile transfers set out in the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), including its
pledge not to assist others in building missiles that could deliver nuclear weapons," according to the Sept. 10 report.
Beijing is not a member of the informal grouping of nations that seeks to curb the spread of critical missile technologies that could carry weapons of mass destruction or conventional warheads.
"Because China has military products -- particularly missiles -- that some developing countries would like to acquire, it can present an obstacle to efforts to stem proliferation of advanced missile systems to some areas of the developing world where political and military tensions are significant, and where some nations are seeking to develop military capabilities of an asymmetric nature," the report says (U.S. Congressional Research Service report, Sept. 10).
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