The U.S. government continues to express concern about China’s proliferation of nuclear and missile-related technology to other countries, according to the Congressional Research Institute, a congressional think tank. U.S. officials say the Chinese military is rapidly increasing its nuclear capabilities.
The report, released Tuesday, says that while the Chinese government is not directly involved in transferring nuclear and missile-related programs, entities in China continue to export goods related to those programs, particularly to Iran and North Korea.
The report notes that entities in China also provide other forms of support for the proliferation of these sensitive technologies, such as illicit financial services and money laundering.
A 2018 U.S. Treasury Department report revealed that Chinese entities provided support for Iran’s and North Korea’s WMD programs. Specifically, North Korea operated a network of financial representatives in China who acted as proxies for North Korean financial institutions, setting up shell companies and managing secret bank accounts to transfer and conceal illicit funds and evade sanctions.
In a speech last November, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Alex Wong noted that “China hosted no less than twenty North Korean WMD and ballistic missile procurement representatives and bank representatives.”
He also said that China has ignored U.N. Security Council resolutions calling for the expulsion of these representatives and said that the United States has “provided China with a great deal of actionable information about U.N.-prohibited activities taking place on its territory,” but that Beijing has “chosen not to act “
China’s construction of civilian nuclear reactors in Pakistan has been another focus of congressional concern. The U.S. believes these projects violate Beijing’s commitments as a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). China has already built four reactors in Pakistan and is building two more such reactors.
Other media reports say Saudi Arabia has built a facility to extract yellowcake uranium from uranium mines with Chinese help, which will advance the country’s fledgling nuclear program.
While the U.S. seeks a global push to reduce nuclear weapons, China’s military is growing its nuclear capabilities.
U.S. Disarmament Ambassador Robert Wood told a conference at the United Nations Tuesday, “Despite the significant increase in the People’s Republic of China’s nuclear weapons holdings, they unfortunately continue to resist bilateral talks with the United States on reducing the risk of nuclear weapons.”
Wood added, “To date, Beijing has been reluctant to engage meaningfully or to hold expert discussions similar to those we have had with Russia. We sincerely expect that to change.”
Russia and the United States agreed earlier this year to extend the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty for five years, maintaining the last treaty limiting the deployment of the world’s two largest strategic nuclear arsenals.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden are expected to meet next month to discuss arms control and security issues, and strategic nuclear stability will be among the topics.
However, just before the U.S. and Russian foreign ministers met at the Arctic Council on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier watched the launch of a Russian-Chinese nuclear energy cooperation project via video link.
According to Chinese media reports, this will mark the construction of four new reactors at two nuclear power plants in China’s Liaoning and Jiangsu provinces, both of which use Russian technology.
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