- China is facing renewed accusations it is providing the
regime of Saddam Hussein with sophisticated technology to enhance air defences,
violating UN sanctions and breaching promises it would cease all assistance
to Iraq.
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- Chinese telecommunications companies are reportedly providing
Iraq with fibre-optic upgrades at several strategic sites, including a
communications station that was bombed last week by British and US planes.
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- The same facility was destroyed by allied bombers in
February, when the allegations of Chinese assistance first emerged.
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- Beijing denied Chinese companies were helping Iraq, but
US Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee
hearing in March that Chinese officials had privately confirmed the companies
were working in Iraq and promised the activities would cease.
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- However, The Wall Street Journal has quoted a senior
official from US President George W. Bush's administration as saying intelligence
reports show China is continuing to help Iraq. "We're sure (the Chinese
companies) are playing a role due to the complementary nature of the intelligence
reports," the official said.
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- Huawei Technologies, the most prominent of the three
Chinese companies involved and one of China's leading telecommunications
manufacturers, has denied doing any work in Iraq in violation of UN sanctions.
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- But the fibre-optic cables it is believed to be installing
in Iraq link systems that can lock on to allied aircraft flying sorties
over Iraqi no-fly zones.
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- US warplanes yesterday bombed a surface-to-air missile
site in southern Iraq to knock out a radar unit that helps Baghdad track
and target Western aircraft, the Pentagon said. US Secretary of Defence
Donald Rumsfeld said before last week's air strike that Iraq had "quantitatively
and qualitatively" upgraded its ability to strike allied aircraft
patrolling the no-fly zones in its north and south.
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- An Iraqi missile came close to a high-flying U2 spy plane
last month ñ a near-miss US officials have put down to the use of
Chinese technology.
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- The renewed allegations come a week before US officials
are due in Beijing to discuss Washington's concerns about Chinese exports
of militarily sensitive technology.
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- The US delegation, led by Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State Vann van Diepen, will arrive on August 23 to discuss possible
Chinese violations of a pledge made last November not to export military
equipment that could be used in nuclear-capable missiles.
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- The issue remains a source of friction between Washington
and Beijing, despite efforts to improve bilateral relations.
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- The Washington Times reported last week that the government-
owned China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export Corp had
sent a dozen shipments of missile components to Pakistan by truck this
year, in violation of the November 2000 non-proliferation agreement.
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- The Chinese Foreign Ministry rejected the report as "slander"
and renewed the non-proliferation pledge.
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