Transcript: State Department Noon Briefing, December 1

1 December 2004

QUESTION: This morning, or today, rather, you guys imposed sanctions on five --
four Chinese and one North Korean entity for sales of stuff to Iran. And I know
this comes up every single time this happens, but some of these entities, as you
refer to them, are serial proliferators, at least in your eyes, especially this
guy, Q.C. Chen, who has been -- I mean, he must hold some kind of world record
for the number of U.S. sanctions he's got on him, and this North Korean firm,
both of which have been -- you know, have been hit for the last at least five
years multiple times.

And so, I just have to ask it again, what do you hope that these sanctions do?
They obviously haven't stopped doing, you know, their -- making these nefarious
sales -- yes, exactly. Do you have hope that sanctions like this are going to
have any affect on these -- on their activity?

MR. ERELI: In some cases, they do; in some cases, they don't. I think the issue
is this is something that is required by U.S. law, and, you know, we're not
going to stand -- we're certainly not going to stand by idly while weapons
proliferation programs are assisted. We take the actions we think are
appropriate, based on U.S. law and based on national interest. We work
diplomatically to try to interrupt and halt the flows of these kinds of
technologies.

It's an uphill battle. But I think the Administration has, you know, rightfully
pointed to proliferation as a major concern, has taken a number of important
initiatives, particularly the Proliferation Security Initiative. But, you know,
let's be clear-eyed about this. There are -- how should I put it -- there are
unrepentant proliferators out there and it's going to require a concerted,
sustained effort to fight them.

QUESTION: But you assumed from my question that I was suggesting that perhaps
you should stand idly by, your words, but, in fact, that wasn't really what I
was assuming. Why don't you do something more than just put these sanctions on,
since it doesn't seem to be having an effect, and obviously you don't --

MR. ERELI: Well, I don't think these sanctions are the whole story. There is
also a lot of -- particularly, with respect to China, there is very, I think,
sustained and high-level engagement with the Government of China on, number one,
developing the kind of export control regulations that would address this kind
of problem, and number two, enforcing them in a robust and systematic way so
that we can get to the heart of it. It's a work in progress.

QUESTION: Right. But this latest round of sanctions would seem to imply that,
despite their announcements that you have greeted with great fanfare, that the
Chinese are not cracking down and aren't implementing their pledges to halt
proliferation from companies that are operating on their soil.

MR. ERELI: There's definitely a ways to go.

QUESTION: Adam, if you have any guidance on the particular entities cited today
in clear English, could you read it to us?

MR. ERELI: What specific thing do you not understand?

QUESTION: Why they were sanctioned.

MR. ERELI: They were sanctioned, in clear English, because they were selling
items on the Export Control List to Iran.

QUESTION: Thanks.

MR. ERELI: Yes, I'm sorry. Dave.

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