Bolton: Arms trade with China scary

By TARO KARASAKI, Staff writer --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Bush administration will work closely with Tokyo in trying to rein in the arms trade with China, a senior U.S. State Department official said Monday.

Specifically, Washington is keen on persuading countries that have a policy of not selling arms to Beijing to continue doing so, said visiting U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton.

In a lecture in Tokyo, he expressed concern about countries that want to sell arms to Beijing and cited Israel and Russia as providing weapons technology to China.

Bolton also expressed concern at moves within the European Union to review its arms embargo against China, adding that Washington ``greatly appreciates Japan's efforts'' in persuading Brussels to maintain the status quo so far.

With Japan continuing to press the cause of global disarmament, Bolton suggested a role for Tokyo in possible trilateral consultations with the European Union and other countries.

Bolton is visiting to attend the Asian Senior-Leader Talks on Nonproliferation on Wednesday.

While acknowledging Beijing's role in bringing North Korea to the negotiating table over its nuclear weapons program, he cautioned against allowing China to flex its military muscle.

``The rising Chinese military capability and the impact that has on strategic stability in East Asia is too important to ignore,'' Bolton said.

At the same time, Bolton accused Chinese state-owned companies of exporting missile technology and related parts to Iran, Pakistan, North Korea and Libya. He said this was ``contrary'' to Beijing's ``commitments'' to keep a lid on weapons proliferation.

Bolton revealed that the Bush administration, during its first four years in office, imposed sanctions against Chinese entities on 62 occasions.

As to growing calls in Tokyo for sanctions against North Korea, Bolton said: ``The question is whether the imposition of sanctions will achieve what you're trying to achieve.''(IHT/Asahi: February 8,2005)

-- (Thuy Hu @ Phong Thuy.Com), February 08, 2005