It was impossible to ensure that the uranium China plans to acquire from Australia was not used for military purposes or ended up in the hands of terrorists, a national security official said yesterday.
A senior official from the National Security Council, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Taipei Times that the government was deeply concerned about Australia's plan to provide China with uranium.
The source added that, regardless of how the deal was phrased on paper, it would add to the security burdens of the US because there was no way to ensure that China kept its word about how the nuclear material was used.
"We have every reason to worry about China's plan to buy uranium from Australia, because of [the Chinese government's] lack of transparency and infamous track record," the official said. "It is a well-known fact that seven Chinese arms suppliers, under the guise of trading companies, have exported missile technology to non-democratic countries, forcing the US to impose sanctions on China."
In addition to the possibility Beijing may use the uranium for military purposes, the official said that Taiwan should also be worried about whether the Australian uranium ended up in the hands of terrorist organizations.
"It is to China's advantage that terrorists obtain the uranium, because terrorists can create instability in the international community, causing trouble for the US and allowing China to further develop its power," the council source said.
The official called on Australia to think twice about selling uranium to China and to take into consideration the potential danger of the deal, rather than merely its short-term interest.
Although Beijing has said it was dedicated to the "peaceful use of nuclear energy" and emphasized that the deal would be in line with safeguards laid out by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the official questioned how effective the agency's control mechanism would be if China insisted on pushing its own agenda.
In addition to appealing to the international community through the media, the official said that it would be a good idea for the Chen administration to ask the US government to express concern over the possible China-Australia deal.
Agence France Presse reported yesterday that Australian Prime Minister John Howard said that "very good progress" had been made in negotiations on opening Australia's vast uranium reserves up to China and a deal could be signed during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's (溫家寶) four-day visit to Australia, which begins on Saturday.
Howard said there had been progress in talks on Canberra's insistence that its uranium is not used in Chinese nuclear weapons.
also see story:
Uranium rumors lift mine shares
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft