|
|||||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||||
 |
 |
    |
|
|
|||
 |
|
||
|
|||
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Critics Question Possible Uranium Sales to China
Australia and Canada are considering uranium sales to China that, while legal under international law, could pose proliferation dangers, the Daily Telegraph reported yesterday (see GSN, July 22). Australia restricts nuclear exports to nations that pledge not to use the uranium for weapons or to export the material to another country, said Ian MacFarlane, Australian resources minister. Canberra now plans to add China to the list of 36 nations that have signed the bilateral agreement, the Telegraph reported. Canada, meanwhile, has a long-standing nuclear cooperation agreement with China, according to the Telegraph. Critics have said Beijing could divert the material to its nuclear weapons program, or even transfer it to North Korea. “There will be people in Washington who will be very upset about this, just as they were when the Israeli government was negotiating to sell arms to China,” said Tom Grunfeld, a China specialist at Empire State College in New York. The State Department has not publicly criticized the potential sales, but officials have said privately that they would watch to make certain that the appropriate controls are in place, according to the Telegraph (Peter Goff, Daily Telegraph, July 24).
| ||||||||||
Back to top
