By
The Associated PRess
BEIJING - China promised yesterday not to sell missiles or components to countries developing nuclear weapons, easing tensions with Washington over long-suspected Chinese assistance to Pakistan, Iran and North Korea.
A statement, released by the Chinese Foreign Ministry, was China's most explicit pledge to date on refraining from spreading missile technology. It covered not only whole missile systems, which Beijing agreed not to transfer two years ago, but also dual-use components that could be used in other technologies.
"China has no intention to assist, in any way, any country in the development of ballistic missiles that can be used to deliver nuclear weapons," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sun Yuxi said in the statement carried by the official Xinhua News Agency.
Sun said that China will improve controls to stop unlicensed transfers of missile technology and publish a comprehensive list of "missile-related items and dual-use items" whose export will be restricted.
For countries developing nuclear-capable missiles, "China will exercise special scrutiny and caution, even for items not specifically contained on the control list," Sun said. He added that before issuing export licenses, China will consider whether an item could be diverted to missile programs.
Although Sun did not mention specific countries, Washington has suspected China of aiding the missile programs of Pakistan, Iran and North Korea since the early 1990s and has in the past imposed sanctions on Chinese companies.
In response to the Chinese statement, the U.S. State Department announced it was lifting sanctions on the punished Chinese companies and would begin to consider approving licenses for China to launch U.S. satellites.
"This development can strengthen cooperation between the United States and China to achieve our common objective of preventing the spread of ballistic missiles that threaten regional and international security," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.
China's pledge and Washington's favorable response capped years of negotiations that quickened since they resumed in July following a 14-month suspension by Beijing in anger over the U.S. bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia.
Boucher said negotiators met again earlier this month in Beijing and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright discussed the matter at last week's meeting of Pacific Rim economies in Brunei.
Since the mid-1990s, the Clinton administration has been eager to persuade Beijing to bolster arms controls and join international agreements while trying to avoid punishing China with broad sanctions that could undermine ties.
Evidence has grown about Beijing's transfers of missile technology. An intelligence finding last year determined that China transferred nuclear-capable M-11 missiles to Pakistan in the early 1990s. A CIA report in August said unspecified Chinese assistance to Pakistan continued in 1999. The report also found that Chinese firms provided missile-related items, raw materials and other assistance to Iran, North Korea and Libya.
China has publicly denied ever transferring missiles or related technologies to foreign countries. After Pakistan and India traded nuclear test explosions in 1998, Beijing showed renewed interest in controlling the spread of missiles.
At a Beijing summit with President Clinton later that year, Chinese President Jiang Zemin agreed to abide by, but not sign, the Missile Technology Control Regime - a 13-year-old agreement signed by 32 countries that restricts transfers of missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons.
But U.S. arms control negotiators have said that China has interpreted the agreement narrowly, agreeing not to transfer whole systems but taking a more ambiguous approach to components.
China's statement yesterday appears to address those concerns while steering clear of formally joining the missile control pact. Sun, the Chinese spokesman, said that in drawing up a list of restricted items China will consider the practices of other countries.
