U.S. to sanction Chinese company

From Andrea Koppel
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration will soon announce it is imposing sanctions against a Chinese company for allegedly exporting ballistic missile technology and parts to Pakistan, a senior State Department official told CNN.

The company is called China Metallurgical Equipment Corporation, the official said.

Last week, a State Department delegation was in Beijing for missile talks with the Chinese government, talks that were set up during Secretary of State Colin Powell's trip to China in July.

During that trip, he sought to get the Chinese to agree to enforce more strictly agreements hammered out last November by the Clinton administration with respect to exports of ballistic missile technology and parts.

Under last year's agreement, the Clinton administration had said it would not seek sanctions with the understanding that China would enforce export controls.

But the Bush administration has found that Chinese companies are continuing to violate the agreement, the State Department official said.

After deciding it was "not satisfied with what it heard last week" at a meeting with Chinese officials, State Department officials decided to move ahead with sanctions, though it was not clear how soon the announcement would be made, the official said.

The precise nature of the sanctions has not been determined, but their impact would be to prevent the export of U.S. satellites to China for launch on Chinese missiles, the official said. The State Department is reviewing several pending deals.

Bush is scheduled to meet with China's President Jiang Zemin in October at the meeting of the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, which China is hosting this year.

In previous years, the Clinton administration had sharply criticized China and threatened sanctions against China for its alleged proliferation of Chinese M-11 missiles to Pakistan, which entered the nuclear club in May 1998, shortly after India did so.