U.S. sends clear message to China

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, SEPT. 1. The specifics of the United States decision to impose sanctions against the China Metallurgical Equipment Company and Pakistan's National Development Council, for supply of Chinese missile components to Islamabad's nuclear programme are still not clear.

However, the Los Angeles Times has said U.S. companies will not be issued licences to launch satellites on Chinese rockets and it will be illegal for U.S. firms to provide technological assistance to the Chinese satellite industry.

The punitive measures against China, while sending a firm message, are expected to hit American firms more. The fast- growing Chinese satellite industry too will suffer.

The sanctions against China are the first such by the Bush administration and come barely seven weeks before the President, Mr. George W. Bush, is due to visit Shanghai and Beijing as part of the meeting of the Asia-Pacific leaders and an official programme in the Chinese capital as well. ``The November 2000 arrangement was intended to be a major transition point between past behaviour and future cooperation. But instead, China has engaged in repeated violations,'' an administration official was quoted as saying the newspaper report.

Administration officials, under pressure from lawmakers to get tough with China on the proliferation front, say the decision to impose sanctions has sent a pretty clear message: the U.S. regards the issue as very important. It is also being said that efforts were made to stay away from the sanctions route in the last several months; but the Chinese not only failed to meet the Americans half-way, but thought they could actually get away with their behaviour.

The sanctions have been imposed under Category Two of the Missile Technology Control regime (MTCR) - shipment of wide- ranging equipment including propulsion components and flight control systems. ``China is helping Pakistan quite a bit, which is the problem,'' an unnamed official told the paper. Category One sanctions would have involved shipment of whole missiles.The sanctions are bound to complicate Mr. Bush's visit to that country.

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