Clinton certifies China meets nuclear requirements
07:03 p.m Jan 15, 1998 Eastern
By Steve Holland
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United States has formally certified China has
met nuclear nonproliferation requirements, smoothing the way for U.S.
industry to seek orders for China's nuclear power program, the White
House said Thursday.
''China has met the nuclear nonproliferation requirements and conditions
necessary under U.S. law to engage in peaceful nuclear cooperation with
U.S. industry,'' White House spokesman Mike McCurry said in a statement
issued during a visit to New York by President Clinton.
McCurry said Clinton on Monday signed the formal certifications and
reports required by U.S. law to implement an agreement on nuclear
cooperation reached during Clinton's October summit in Washington with
Chinese President Jiang Zemin.
Clinton submitted the documents to Congress, which has 30 legislative
days to review them. Provided Congress does not block implementation of
the U.S.-Chinese agreement -- and there does not appear to be serious
opposition to it -- U.S. companies may then compete for China's
burgeoning nuclear power business, estimated to be worth $60 billion
through 2002.
''This agreement serves U.S. national security and economic interests
and demonstrates that the administration's policy of engaging China is
achieving concrete results,'' McCurry sad.
He added, ''We will continue to work with the Chinese government to
strengthen our cooperation on other arms control and nonproliferation
issues.''
Clinton based his decision to go ahead with the agreement on China's
secret written assurance it would end all new nuclear cooperation with
Iran and quickly phase out two existing projects.
Poised to submit bids to build nuclear power plants in China are
Westinghouse Electric Corp. and ABB Combustion Engineering Nuclear
Systems. General Electric Co. has said it may wait.
The United States had long complained about China's willingness to
export sophisticated weapons and nuclear technology to troublesome
countries like Iran and Pakistan. But senior officials have increasingly
argued that Beijing is building a markedly better record of commitments
and behavior.
The nuclear agreement was one of the most significant results of
Clinton's meeting with Jiang.
In a letter to relevant members of Congress released by the White House
on Thursday, Clinton said the Chinese government ''has made substantial
strides in joining the international nonproliferation regime and in
putting in place a comprehensive system of nuclear-related nationwide
export controls.''
He said he had certified that ''China has provided clear and unequivocal
assurances to the United States that it is not assisting and will not
assist any non-nuclear-weapon state, either directly or indirectly, in
acquiring nuclear explosive devices. ...''
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