The uranium Taiwan has agreed to purchase from Australia will be used only in nuclear power stations, whereas the nuclear fuel China acquired may assist Beijing in developing weapons of mass destruction, a source at the National Security Council told the Taipei Times yesterday.
The official was responding to a report that two Australian mining companies have also signed contracts for the supply of uranium to Taiwan.
"It is not to the advantage of the international community that Australia has agreed to sell uranium to China," the source said. "China claims that it will use the fuel for peaceful purposes. My question is: Why is China saving its own uranium reserves and buying more from Australia?"
One possibility, the official said, is that China is saving its uranium reserves for the development of nuclear weapons and using the fuel acquired from other countries to fuel its power plants -- or vice versa.
The official said that he believed China had offered economic incentives, such as further opening of the Chinese market or a trade pact, to entice Australia into agreeing to the deal.
China and Australia began the first round of historic free-trade agreement talks last May. The two governments agreed to the talks during a meeting in Beijing one month earlier between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
The Taiwan-Australia uranium deal hit the headlines in Australian newspapers a day after Canberra signed a deal setting the stage for uranium exports to China.
Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), and BHP Billiton confirmed that they had contracts to sell uranium to Taiwan, and Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said the deals were unlikely to cause problems for China.
Australia -- which has a "one China" policy -- negotiated arrangements with the US in 2002 that made it possible to export Australian uranium to Taiwan via the US, although contracts were only entered into during the past year.
"China always seemed comfortable with the idea [of Australia selling uranium to Taiwan]," Downer told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.
"I understand from my department in more recent times that they have said they're pleased that we have this arrangement in place because it means that it strengthens the overall security and safeguards of any civil nuclear industry in Taiwan," he said.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported yesterday that the two Australian companies said their deals had been approved by the federal government and were subject to a nuclear safeguards agreement.
In the past Australia rebuffed Taiwanese requests for uranium, fearing a hostile reaction from China, the report said.
In 1996 Downer said Australia was "exploring conditions" for a reversal of the ban, the report said.
Negotiations stalled, however, amid diplomatic sensitivity over cross-strait relations and Canberra's alliance with the US, the report said.
The report quoted ERA spokeswoman Amanda Buckley as saying that the deal had not been brokered in secret as it had come after the negotiation of a nuclear safeguards agreement with Taiwan, which had passed through both houses of parliament in 2002.
Buckley said no uranium had yet been shipped to Taiwan and the global shortage of supply meant the earliest this would happen would be next year.
Taiwanese officials from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Canberra told the Herald yesterday that the deal had been signed during the past year and that provision had been made for the US to act as an intermediary.
The report quoted Downer as saying that the Taiwanese deal would strengthen nuclear safeguards and that it was unlikely to set a precedent for the sale of uranium to India, which, like Taiwan, is not a signatory of the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
China said yesterday that it has made arrangements with the UN nuclear watchdog agency to monitor Taiwan amid reports that Australia has plans to sell uranium to Taiwan.
"We have taken note of the report," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao (
He did not give any details, but said the IAEA has "all along monitored and safeguarded Taiwan's activities ... to ensure the peaceful use of nuclear energy."
Energy Resources and BHP both said that they had contracts to sell uranium to Taiwan.
"We are all sold out for 2006, so the earliest we would be looking at sending would be some time next year," said a spokeswoman for ERA, which is majority owned by Rio Tinto.
BHP Billiton also said it had entered into an agreement to supply uranium to state-run Taiwan Power Co, but said it did not give details on individual contracts with customers.
Australia has about 40 percent of the world's known uranium reserves, but it will only export to countries that have signed the NPT and who also agree to a separate bilateral safeguards deal.
China and Australia signed a nuclear safeguards deal on Monday, although Canberra said the trade was unlikely to start for some years.
Downer said Taiwan had previously been a signatory to the NPT.
"Although it's no longer a state ... nevertheless it continues to fulfill all of its obligations under the NPT," he said.
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