More Chinese nuclear reactors for Pakistan

[Neo]

The Nuclear Suppliers Group's Shameful Silence

Not one of 45 nations could muster the nerve to condemn China's sales to Pakistan.

Non-nuclear New Zealand was an unusual chairman to guide the 46 nuclear bigwigs at the contentious meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Groups this weekend in Christchurch. An army of nonproliferation enthusiasts descended on the event to press for nuclear-trade guidelines to be observed by all concerned. Yet China's blatant violation, in the form of two new nuclear reactors to Pakistan, was on everyone's mind, but on nobody's lips.

China didn't elaborate publicly on its plans to provide new reactors to Pakistan, having announced its intention to have a nuclear deal by proxy with Islamabad earlier this month. Two state-owned firms agreed to build two more reactors at the Chashma atomic complex in Punjab.

Beijing justified the deal on historical grounds, citing its grandfatherly obligations to Pakistan, and also on the logic of restoring nuclear balance in South Asia. The only assurance the Chinese gave was that its nuclear commerce with Pakistan would be in accordance with China's international obligations.

Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie shakes hands with visiting Pakistani Chief of Army Staff Ashfaq Parvez Kayani

Meanwhile, the United States was nowhere to be found. "India imitates China, Pakistan imitates India. What can we do to stop their nuclear activities?" a senior White House official lamented to a group of nonproliferation experts earlier this month, as though he was speaking for a weak state, not a superpower. He added the U.S. did not want to displease China or Pakistan at this juncture. American priorities today are the economy and the war on terror; two more peaceful reactors will not make much of a difference to the world. And how could the U.S. object, having agreed to supply reactors to India?

Neither did India protest, even though Chinese nuclear sales to Pakistan are a fundamental nonproliferation issue of concern to Delhi and to the NSG, more broadly. In fact, the Indian government has hardly uttered a word in public since the deal was announced.

The NSG already has guidelines for nuclear trade by its members and should decide whether the Chinese move violates those rules or not. China obviously wants to present a fait accompli rather than invite the group to impose conditions on the supply of the reactors to Pakistan. Beijing argues that the twin reactor deal was agreed before Beijing formally joined the NSG, and thus, isn't subject to current NSG rules. Beijing also points to the exception made for India in its 2008 civil-nuclear deal with the U.S.

To draw a parallel between a specific exemption given to India and the unilateral action by China is to ignore the three years of agonizing negotiations based on India's record of responsible behavior and its pressing energy needs. India separated its military reactors from civilian stations, agreed to International Atomic Energy Agency-led safeguard inspections of the latter, applied for a waiver of NSG guidelines and gave various assurances to the international community.

Pakistan, which sold nuclear-weapons technology to clients in North Korea, Libya and Iran, can hardly be equated with India. Islamabad is compiling a nuclear arsenal far in excess of the minimum deterrent that the country is supposed to possess. Pakistan is also blocking negotiations on the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in Geneva precisely to gain time to accumulate more fissionable material. This is hardly an opportune time to signal acceptance of the peaceful nature of Pakistan's nuclear program.

China's own credibility as a disciplined member of the NSG has often been called into question. Even while China has been using Pakistan as a conduit for supply of nuclear technology, it has directly assisted Iran in developing missile technology and supplied missiles to Saudi Arabia. Its nuclear activities reveal a clear strategy to use their nuclear assets to secure economic and political concessions in South Asia and the Middle East.

Placing additional nuclear capability in the hands of Pakistan, even peaceful nuclear reactors, will fly in the face of NSG guidelines. China's silence is no indication of its willingness to change its behavior. In fact, if past experience is any guide, neither China nor Pakistan can be expected to further the cause of nonproliferation. If the NSG doesn't speak out now, its very credibility will be undermined. And what will happen then?

Mr. Sreenivasan is Director General of the Kerala International Centre in Trivandrum and a Member of the National Security Advisory Board in New Delhi.

T.P. Sreenivasan: The Nuclear Suppliers Group's Shameful Silence - WSJ.com

[Munir]

Most US policies end up shooting in the US foot... Wars in Afghanistan, South America and Asian triangle produced world largest heroin farms. Thank you for doing such a great job. Same goes for allowing people without money to buy houses (Bush and the credit crunch). And now another big deal like allowing India (Non NPT member and nukes producer with certain violations like Kashmir, Gujarat, East Pakistan etc) to have nuclear technology and material while not allowing Pakistan to have the same. Hypocracy. I think it is a bad example and now they will have to pay for it. The whole NPT is worth nada just like Kyoto. Love how world largest democracy pretend to be correct while act like thieves.

[Neo]

Discovering nuclear truth in South Asia

EDITORIAL (July 02 2010): Slowly but inexorably, Pakistan's doctrine to maintain nuclear-based, credible, minimum deterrence and strategic restraint responsibly is receiving acceptability from one of its long-held detractors, the United States of America.

Earlier, in April, it was President Obama who conceded that Pakistan's nuclear assets are absolutely safe and secure, kicking aside the much-touted propaganda that these could fall in the hands of terrorists. Now, it is Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, who has acknowledged Pakistan's right to keep nuclear weapons as deterrence - against possible Indian aggression.

Speaking at the opening session of Aspen Security Forum, on Tuesday, he said: "These are the most important weapons in the Pakistani arsenal...These are their crown jewels". "They [Pakistanis] see a threat in India and [having these weapons] is their deterrent. They see this as a huge part of their national security," he added. Admiral Mullen also went an extra mile to assert that Pakistan's nuclear programme is different from Iran's and North Korea's, who, the Americans believe, are potential proliferators. On the other hand, "Pakistan has made 'extraordinary efforts' to protect its nuclear weapons."

No surprise then, that the United States did not raise any objection to the Chinese plan to build two more nuclear power reactors in Pakistan at the recent meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in New Zealand, greatly disappointing many a traditional detractor of Pakistan's nuclear programme. But Admiral Mullen's exposition takes Pakistan's case of nuclear parity with India still further. Not only did he vouch for the safety and security of Pakistan's nuclear programme he also conceded its right to maintain nuclear deterrence.

Having agreed to supply India, a non-signatory to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty like Pakistan, the latest nuclear technology and fissile materials, the United States, of course, doesn't find itself on any moral high ground in opposing similar treatment to Pakistan.

But there is no dearth of lobbies that are still busy turning pages of the NSG primer to come up with some odd provision to oppose the Chinese decision to go ahead with its plan to augment Pakistan's nuclear-generated electricity capacity. Given the fact that the NSG is beset with differences over the question of eligibility for its assistance, thanks to the United States' violation of its code of conduct by signing nuclear co-operation agreement with India, it is our hope that the Group would break free of the anti-Pakistan lobbies' hold and agree to deal with Pakistan on an equal footing with India.

But more importantly, Admiral Mullen's acknowledgement of nuclear reality in South Asia should help the US, and other major stakeholders in global peace, stabilise the region, mainly by shunning discriminatory policies in their dealings with Pakistan and India. The fact is that both Pakistan and India are de facto nuclear states, fully equipped with nuclear weaponry and delivery systems. They are eligible to membership of the so-called Nuclear Club, which if, and when granted, will help them sign the NPT.

The international community should help establish, in this region, Nuclear Risk Reduction Centres (NRRCs), evolve, jointly an acceptable lexicon of 'nuclear terminology', and introduce the lowest-possible alert levels during peace times. The process of firming up CBMs should be speeded up, particularly by including Pakistan's proposal for a strategic restraint regime.

Some of the work in this direction was undertaken under the now-dysfunctional Composite Dialogue, which the United States and others can help retrieve and build upon. The even-handedness, reflected from the statement of Admiral Mike Mullen, is indeed a highly positive development and a step in that direction, stirring hopes that in the coming days, Washington would make more tangible moves in this area of crucial importance to the Pak-US relationship.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

[Neo]

US stays mum on China-Pakistan nuke deal

By Eli Clifton

WASHINGTON - Last week's meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group (NSG) in New Zealand brought statements of concern over China's planned nuclear deal with Pakistan, but United States State Department officials avoided taking a strong position when pressed.

China's proposed sale of two nuclear reactors to Pakistan would, in theory, stand in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) - of which China is a signatory - but the Barack Obama administration's finalization in March of an agreement to reprocess spent nuclear fuel from India could face similar criticism.

Critics charge that both the China-Pakistan and US-India deals violate the NPT by facilitating nuclear programs in states that are not parties to the NPT. The US-India nuclear accord, however, only went ahead after Delhi had obtained a special exemption from the NSG.

United States State Department officials avoided questions from reporters about the China-Pakistan deal during the NSG meeting. When questioned on Monday, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said that issues surrounding China's nuclear deal had been brought up at last week's meeting but that the US "[continues] to seek information from China regarding its future plans".

On Monday, Crowley told reporters, "We're looking for more information from China as to what it is potentially proposing. We have a view that this initiative, as it goes forward, would need the agreement of the Nuclear Suppliers' Group."

Other members of the NSG were not as restrained in their response to the possible transfer of nuclear technology to Pakistan. The British government expressed the opinion that "the time is not yet right for a civil nuclear deal with Pakistan".

The Obama administration has numerous reasons to abstain from joining the condemnation of the Chinese plan to sell nuclear reactors to Pakistan.

The White House has worked hard in recent months to improve relations after a difficult winter in which pressures grew on the administration to declare China a currency manipulator and the announcement of US arms sales to Taiwan provoked angry statements from Beijing.

The ongoing war against the Taliban and al-Qaeda in Afghanistan necessitates good US relations with Pakistan to maintain supply routes into Afghanistan and assure cooperation in facilitating operations against Taliban havens in Pakistan.

Experts in Washington have concluded it to be unlikely that the White House would offer any public opposition to the China-Pakistan nuclear deal.

"The United States and other NSG states may object to the pending transaction but they cannot prevent China from exporting the reactors," Mark Hibbs, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment's Nuclear Policy Program, wrote in April.

"Senior officials in NSG states friendly to the United States said this month they expect that President Barack Obama will not openly criticize the Chinese export because Washington, in the context of a bilateral security dialogue with Islamabad, may be sensitive to Pakistan's desire for civilian nuclear cooperation in the wake of the sweeping US-India nuclear deal which entered into force in 2008 after considerable arm-twisting of NSG states by the United States, France and Russia," he wrote.

When the US announced in 2008 its intention to push through an exemption in the NPT to permit the sale of civilian nuclear technology to India, arms control advocates widely condemned the agreement as weakening the NPT, while others charged that the NPT maintained a double standard for close allies of the US.

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad has complained of the hypocrisy in the restrictions put on the export of civilian nuclear technology while the US pushed for a loophole for India, a country that has not signed the NPT and has developed nuclear weapons.
The Obama administration has repeatedly made clear that the challenges surrounding nuclear non-proliferation and the reduction of nuclear weapons stockpiles are one of the top international initiatives that the White House is seeking to address.

Obama has spoken about his goal of a world "without nuclear weapons" and has emphasized the three pillars - disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear technology - which form the framework for a global reduction in the threat from nuclear weapons.

The NPT has been seen as the most effective avenue to channel US efforts to reduce the risk of proliferation but some experts are concerned that the US and China's attempts to sidestep the NPT and engage in nuclear deals with non-NPT signing countries will weaken the treaty.

While Beijing’s attempts to seek an exemption for its nuclear deal with Pakistan may garner some criticism, it seems unlikely that the White House will risk a public spat with China over the proposed sale.

Earlier this month, experts warned that the China-Pakistan nuclear deal could be a difficult issue at the NSG meeting but that a pre-2004 Sino-Pakistan nuclear cooperation agreement, signed before China joined the NSG, could be used by Beijing to allow the nuclear reactors sale to be "grandfathered" in.

"In the aftermath of the US-India deal and the group's decision to accommodate it, the NSG will have to perform a delicate balancing act to find the least unsatisfactory solution to China's challenge," Hibbs said on June 17.

"In the view of some NSG states, an agreement permitting China to grandfather the exports under the 2004 nuclear cooperation agreement with Pakistan would be the least damaging outcome, but it may not be credible," he said. "If China seeks an exemption, NSG countries could urge Beijing to provide nuclear security and non-proliferation benefits in exchange for limited commerce with Pakistan."

Asia Times Online :: South Asia news, business and economy from India and Pakistan

[Neo]

Pakistan and China move closer in nuclear embrace

* Zardari visit underscores tightened Chinese ties
* Nuclear plant deal may be discussed, but not trumpeted
* China nuclear companies see Pakistan as springboard

BEIJING: China will display its determination to bolster ties with Pakistan this week, when visiting President Asif Ali Zardari is sure to receive effusive vows of loyalty, and perhaps firmer signs about a nuclear power project that symbolises the two neighbours’ strategic embrace.

Zardari’s visit, starting on Tuesday, appears meant to show that Beijing wants to ensure that Islamabad stays an “all-weather friend” while it frets about US influence on its doorstep from India to Afghanistan.

He will meet President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao for talks that may open the way to more Chinese investment in Pakistan, and possibly firm up Beijing’s commitment to expanding the Chashma nuclear power complex in Punjab.

Beijing has been preparing to build two new reactors at Chashma, where it has already built one and is finishing another, despite the qualms of Washington, New Delhi and other capitals.

China’s willingness to risk foreign ire over the nuclear expansion shows its intensified commitment to Pakistan, said Andrew Small, a fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, who has studied China’s ties with Pakistan.

“For China, the counter-balancing element of the Pakistan relationship is more important than it was a few years ago,” Small said by telephone from Brussels, where he is based.

Chinese experts privately described the Chashma deal as a “counter-weight” to the partnership between India and the United States, who signed a nuclear power pact in 2008 that was dogged by controversy, said Small.

“With rising India, and the India-US factor, China’s traditional element of backing Pakistan is back more in play,” he said.

China says the safeguards in place at Chashma ensure that its role is entirely peaceful.

Nuclear deal: But critics say Pakistan’s domestic instability and its past role spreading nuclear arms technology demand that Chashma come under firmer international vetting. Faced with these misgivings, China is unlikely to trumpet the project during Zardari’s visit.

Beijing appears confident, however, that its plans to expand Chashma will not falter over possible opposition from the United States and its Western allies, said several experts. Washington had little room to oppose outright the Chashma deal after it sealed its own energy pact with New Delhi, the experts said.

“To alienate Pakistan is not in the US interest,” said Jing-dong Yuan, an expert on China’s nuclear security policies at the James Martin Centre for Non-proliferation Studies in California.

“But behind the scenes, the US may do something to get some deals or concessions out of this (Chashma) – to push China and Pakistan to do something by offering some assurances,” said Yuan.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has been tight-lipped about the deal to build the reactors at Chashma, but a trickle of announcements from Chinese nuclear companies shows they are preparing to start work at the site.

Chashma also offers Chinese nuclear exporters an opportunity to hone their prowess in building reactors abroad, said Mark Hibbs, a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who has closely followed developments over Chashma.

Springboard: “The Chinese nuclear companies see Pakistan as a springboard,” said Hibbs, noting Beijing’s ambitions to expand its exports of reactors. “This additional construction project at Chashma helps keep them in the game.”

But Beijing faces international worries about the expansion. China is a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 46-country body that seeks to regulate atomic technology exports.

To receive nuclear exports, nations that are not one of the five officially recognised atomic weapons states must usually place all their nuclear activities under the safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency, say NSG rules.

When the United States sealed its nuclear power agreement with India in 2008, it wrangled a waiver from that rule. Washington has said China should seek a similar exemption for the planned reactors in Pakistan.

But Beijing stayed tight-lipped about Chashma at an NSG meeting last month and has not publicly sought an exemption. Such a bid would probably be opposed by some member states worried about Pakistan or what they see as the damaging precedent of another waiver to the usual nuclear export rules, said Hibbs. reuters

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

[Neo]

Zardari satisfied with Chinese help in civil nuclear technology

BEIJING (July 10 2010): President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday expressed satisfaction over the co-operation between China and Pakistan in civil nuclear technology, setting aside reservations of the world community. This reflects the existence of warm and deepest relationships between the two friendly countries and a matter of pride and respect for Pakistan, Zardari said while speaking at Pak-China Economic Forum.

The forum was participated by CEOs of leading corporations and institutions representing energy, construction, mining, petroleum, engineering, shipping, finance, banking, industries as well as chamber of Commerce and industries. President Zardari said Pakistan would use all resources for power generation to overcome its energy crisis.

He also called for much more economic co-operation between two countries and invited Chinese entrepreneurs to take advantage of special incentives being offered to them in Pakistan. The president said, Pak-China friendship is centuries old and stood the test of the time. He said, the relationship had now been passed to the third generation and now every child in Pakistan was looking forward to maintain it with the same warm sentiments.

"We have to strengthen our bonds through enhanced economic co-operation to fulfil the vision of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and Mao Tse Tung." "Coming generations will not forgive us if we did not realise the full potential of Pak-China relations in economic growth of the region," Zardari said.

The president said Pak-China friendship was an important feature for peace and stability in the region and said both countries had to stand together to fight the new challenges in the region. He said that the rail and road links between the two neighbouring countries would help boost trade and economic relations between the two countries.

The president invited Chinese investors to invest in engineering, banking, communication, agriculture and energy sectors in Pakistan. He said the concept of conquering others' did not work now as the trade had replaced it because this was the era of science and technology.

"I have come to China to learn miracles of China and take benefit of its experience," he said and added that both countries had to help each others in all spheres of life and to uphold their socio-economic agenda. "China is a developed nation while Pakistan is a developing country and we have attached great importance to China for giving boost to our socio-economic programme," the President said.

CEOs of Chinese companies working in various sectors of Pakistan gave presentations on the progress of development and energy products. They showed their commitment to invest in building infrastructure and energy projects in Pakistan. Zardari said Pakistan and China have to make more investment and to take forward the Pak-China friendship to next generations as was desired by founding fathers and architects of Pak-Sino friendship.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

[Lady Macbeth]

Nahiaali33 - This is a warning to you! Do not post oneliners that make no sense whatsoever. I am going to delete all your preposterous posts. Do not make a mistake of pulling off any more spamming one-liners or else infractions will be served your way!!!!

[Neo]

'US concerned at Pak-China nuclear deal'

ISLAMABAD (July 20 2010): The US secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that international community and Nuclear Supplier Groups (NSG) had some concerns over Pakistan-China nuclear deal.

"We are aware of Pakistan energy needs but on nuclear deal with China the international community has some questions which must be answered," she said in response to a questioner at a news conferring that she addressed along with her Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the end of second round of Strategic Dialogue.

She said that Pakistan was aware of international community's concerns and NSG questions on nuclear deal with China. Foreign Minister Qureshi said Pakistan would satisfy the world community on its nuclear deal. Pakistan has been facing severe energy crisis and wanted to opt for nuclear deal to overcome the power deficiency badly affecting the economy and social life, he added. "We are fully aware of international obligations on nuclear proliferation," he said adding that Pakistan had over 35 years experience in nuclear technology and was fully abiding by international obligations.

AFP adds: The United States has conveyed its "concerns" to Islamabad over China's sale of two civilian nuclear reactors to Pakistan, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a press conference Monday. Washington has already sought clarification from Beijing on the deal to build two new 650-megawatt reactors in Punjab, saying it must be approved by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

"We believe that the NSG, which has recently met to examine the sale that you are referring to, has posed a series of questions that should be answered because as part of any kind of transaction involving nuclear power, there are concerns by international community, Pakistan knows that," said Clinton. "We have conveyed them (concerns), other members of the NSG conveyed them and we look forward to answers of those questions posed," she told reporters in Islamabad.

The deal was revealed in the British press in April and comes after China in 2004 entered the NSG, a group of nuclear energy states that forbids exports to nations lacking strict International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. The United States in 2008 signed a landmark nuclear agreement with Pakistan's arch-rival India and some analysts believe that lay the ground for the deal with China.

Pakistan has pressed the United States for a nuclear deal similar to India's. Clinton on Monday said "intensive discussion" had begun to explore a civil nuclear deal with Pakistan, but outlined issues to be addressed including rigorous controls over the export of nuclear information and material.

"Export controls, and the problem with Mr AQ Khan raises a red flag for people around the world and not just in the USA, because we can trace the export of nuclear information and material from Pakistan through all kinds of channels to many different countries. That is an issue," Clinton told a town hall meeting in Islamabad.

Clinton also criticised Pakistan for standing in the way of a proposed international treaty to prohibit the further production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other explosive devices. "I just want you to understand that we are fulfilling our commitment to pursue this... but it is not a one-way street," she said. "There has to be an awareness that certain questions that people have in their minds... must be addressed," Clinton added.

Business Recorder [Pakistan's First Financial Daily]

[Ray Channel]

china is our friend and we know what it is doing is not bad 4 the peace of the world. china is a peaceful country so he know all the bad affects of this thing.