Mon, Jul 20, 2015 page1

• US Congress debates China deal renewal

  • AP, WASHINGTON
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  China’s record on nuclear proliferation is facing congressional criticism as US President Barack Obama’s administration seeks renewal of a 30-year agreement that enables US involvement in China’s fast-growing atomic energy industry.

  It is a different beast and far less contentious than the new nuclear deal between Iran, the US and five other world powers aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring atomic weapons. China has had the bomb for 50 years and has a stockpile of about 250 weapons.

  This agreement facilitates the transfer of US technology for civilian use, and blocking or delaying it could complicate already tense US-China relations. In September, Obama is to host Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at the White House amid growing strains over Beijing’s island-building in the South China Sea and the alleged cybertheft of US government and trade secrets.

  There are also major commercial implications. The US nuclear industry is warning it needs swift renewal of the agreement, which expires at the end of this year. Four US-designed reactors worth US$8 billion are under construction in China and dozens more are planned or proposed, which industry advocates claim could support tens of thousands of US jobs.

  The agreement is likely to be renewed. It has strong support from some lawmakers, mainly because of the economic benefits of nuclear trade with China, but has drawn stiff criticism from both Republicans and Democrats.

  US Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican presidential hopeful, last week cosponsored a resolution seeking to block it, saying Chinese entities have continued to transfer sensitive military technology to Iran and North Korea, and assisted Pakistan’s nuclear program.

  “The stakes are too high for us to continue a business-as-usual approach to China by letting this agreement enter into force,” he said.

  Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat, has also spoken out against it, demanding strong conditions to ensure China meets nonproliferation standards.

  However, the Obama administration is warning that ending US-China cooperation would be devastating to the US nuclear industry, and would hurt bilateral relations and diminish US leverage. It said China’s record on nonproliferation has improved. Beijing has signed international nuclear control accords and has ceased support to Pakistan and Iran’s nuclear weapons programs since the 1990s.

  US Assistant Secretary of State for International Security and Nonproliferation Thomas Countryman told a congressional hearing on Thursday that failure to implement the agreement “would be taken by the Chinese as a step backward by the United States from our professed desire to be partners where we can and to manage our differences where we have them.”

  However, he acknowledged that China has yet to show “the necessary capability and will” to stop illicit transfers of sensitive technology, including to Iran’s ballistic missile program by Chinese national Li Fangwei (李方偉), also known as Karl Lee, who has a US$5 million US reward on his head.

  “There is a demonstrated wanton disregard for export restrictions in China,” US Representative Gerry Connolly, a Democrat, told Thursday’s hearing.

  Asked for a response by reporters, Chinese embassy spokesman Zhu Haiquan (朱海權) said China strictly abides by its international obligations and would punish any violation of Chinese export control laws.

  However, perhaps most damaging is the accusation that China violated the existing agreement by adapting US-designed coolant pumps for nuclear reactors for military purposes on its nuclear submarines. US officials have declined to comment publicly on those allegations.

  The US has forged civilian nuclear agreements with two dozen countries — including its other main strategic rival, Russia. Nuclear cooperation with China also complements Washington’s shared interest with Beijing in curbing greenhouse gas emissions amid the push for a global climate pact in Paris in December.

  However, experts have voiced concern over China’s ability to oversee safety as it rapidly expands nuclear power generation. Twenty-seven nuclear plants are already operating, 24 are under construction and dozens more are planned.

  Washington-based Nonproliferation Policy Education Center executive director Henry Sokolski has warned of a regional fissile material production race in East Asia.

  China has yet to decide to reprocess spent nuclear fuel on a commercial scale, but the agreement opens the way for that. After settling with the US over security arrangements and safeguards, China could extract nuclear weapons-grade plutonium from spent fuel generated in US-designed reactors whenever it chooses.

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