REUTERS
February 15, 2004
Filed at 4:44 p.m. ET
China Links with Saudi, Pakistan a U.S. Concern
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States believes China is still
cooperating with Saudi Arabia on missiles and with Pakistan on nuclear
technology and missiles, despite Beijing's promises to control arms
proliferation, U.S. officials said.
These are among the subjects expected to be discussed when senior U.S.
and Chinese officials meet this week in Beijing, the U.S. officials
told Reuters.
Undersecretary of State John Bolton, the top U.S. non-proliferation
official, plans to encourage Chinese participation in an international
arms interdiction regime but Beijing's own activities will also be a
focus, officials said.
The focus on proliferation has intensified since the father of
Pakistan's atomic weapons program, Adbul Qadeer Khan, confessed to
selling nuclear secrets to Libya, Iran and North Korea.
The Bush administration considers Iran and North Korea the greatest
near-term proliferation threats.
But it is also ``concerned about what the Saudis are getting from the
Chinese in terms of missiles,'' a U.S. official said. ``They want to
continue a relationship with the Saudis.''
Experts say ballistic missiles are most useful for delivering weapons
of mass destruction and this would be especially worrisome if Islamic
radicals took control in Riyadh or if the current Saudi rulers felt
threatened by an Iranian nuclear bomb.
NUCLEAR SAUDI?
For some time, experts have speculated that Saudi Arabia helped
bankroll the Pakistani nuclear program with the expectation that at
some point it would gain access to a nuclear weapon.
In recent interviews, several senior U.S. officials were cagey about a
possible Saudi nuclear program.
One said: ``There is no evidence that Pakistan has helped Saudi Arabia
with a nuclear program.''
But another official said: ``There is always concern even if the
information is flimsy.''
Saudi Arabia is a key U.S. ally and has cooperated in the war on
terrorism. But the relationship is often shrouded in secrecy,
especially since it was revealed that most of the hijackers who
attacked the United States on Sept 11, 2001 were Saudi.
According to Richard Russell of Georgetown University, the Saudis
``already have in place a foundation for building a nuclear weapons
deterrent.''
In the mid-1980s, Riyadh secretly negotiated the $3 billion purchase
of 50 to 60 Chinese CSS-2 missiles, with a range of 2,500 miles, U.S.
officials have said.
Riyadh and Beijing said the missiles delivered to Saudi Arabia had
conventional warheads and rebuffed U.S. requests to inspect them,
Russell said.
``It is well past time for Washington to renew calls for independent
inspection of the Saudi missiles to ensure that they are armed as the
Chinese and Saudis claim, and that ballistic missile modernization
efforts are not underway,'' he said.
In November 2000, China vowed it would not help any country develop
ballistic missiles that could deliver nuclear weapons.
In August 2002, Beijing published a comprehensive missile export
control system but a 2003 CIA report said China continued to work with
Pakistan and Iran on ballistic missile projects.
The unclassified version of the CIA report did not mention Saudi
Arabia but two U.S. officials told Reuters the kingdom's dealings with
China are an issue.
``We have unanswered questions. There is some cooperation we have
seen'' between China and the Saudis, one official said.
U.S. officials also said China was continuing a nuclear relationship
with Pakistan. ``The suspicion is that they have not ceased it and
that's obviously a problem as well,'' one official said.
``And not just nuclear, but cooperation with Pakistan in the missile
area as well,'' he added.
China so far has resisted joining the U.S.-led Proliferation Security
Initiative under which countries pledge to interdict shipments of
weapons of mass destruction.
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