U.S. seeks action by Beijing on proliferation

Testifying on Thursday in Washington before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, DeSutter expressed concern that Beijing has not put words into action and does not adequately enforce its own proliferation laws.

“At the highest levels, the Chinese government states that it opposes the proliferation of missile technology and that it forbids Chinese firms and entities from engaging in transfers that violate its commitments to the United States. Unfortunately, the reality often does not bear this out,” DeSutter told the commission.

A crucial problem, according to DeSutter, is the attitude of the mainland’s government. “The Chinese government appears to view missile proliferation ... not as a goal in and of itself but as an issue that needs to be managed as part of its overall bilateral relationship with the United States. China has generally tried to avoid making fundamental changes in its transfer policies by offering the U.S. carefully-worded commitments,” she said. Mainland firms have engaged in “transfer activities” with Pakistan, Iran, North Korea and Libya, according to a recent State Department Noncompliance Report, noted DeSutter, activities that clearly violate commitments made by Beijing to Washington. Beijing has taken some steps to halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missile technology, according to DeSutter, by cooperating with the U.S. to thwart North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Not all U.S. administration officials share this view however, according to the Heritage Foundation’s John Tkacik, writing in this week’s Weekly Standard.

The mainland might profess to be “adamantly opposed” to the nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, but “they haven’t done anything” the official told Tkacik.

Nevertheless, as mainland China is “a key to achieving the ... goal of stopping the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction” the administration of President George W. Bush “will continue high-level dialogue directed at persuading the PRC to adopt national policies to enforce its commitments,” stated DeSutter.

The U.S. will also seek to “enhance deterrence of Chinese proliferation by changing the cost/benefit analysis to make a change in behavior more attractive to China,” she said.

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