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Summary

Congress has long been concerned about whether U.S. policy advances the national interest in reducing the role of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and missiles that could deliver them. Recipients of China's technology reportedly include Pakistan and countries that the State Department says support terrorism, such as Iran and North Korea. This report discusses the national security problem of China's role in weapons proliferation and issues related to the U.S. policy response, including legislation, since the mid-1990s. This report will be updated as warranted. Since 1991, China has taken some steps to mollify U.S. concerns about its role in weapons proliferation. Nonetheless, supplies from China have aggravated trends that result in ambiguous technical aid, more indigenous capabilities, longer-range missiles, and secondary (retransferred) proliferation. As the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) has reported to Congress, China remains a "key supplier" of weapons technology -- particularly missile or chemical technology. Policy issues in seeking PRC cooperation have concerned summits, sanctions, and satellite exports. On November 21, 2000, the Clinton Administration agreed to waive missile proliferation sanctions, resume processing licenses to export satellites to China, and discuss an extension of the bilateral space launch agreement, in return for another promise from China on missile nonproliferation. However, PRC proliferation activities again raised questions about sanctions. On 14 occasions, the Bush Administration has imposed sanctions on PRC entities (not the government) for transfers (related to ballistic missiles, chemical weapons, and cruise missiles) to Pakistan, Iran, or another country. (See Table 1, summarizing U.S. sanctions imposed on PRC entities for weapons proliferation.) Among those sanctions, on September 1, 2001, the Administration imposed missile proliferation sanctions that effectively denied satellite exports (for two years), after a PRC company transferred technology to Pakistan, despite the November 2000 promise. On September 19, 2003, the State Department imposed additional missile proliferation sanctions on NORINCO, a defense industrial firm, denying satellite exports to China for two more years, while waiving for one year the import ban on other PRC government products related to missiles, space systems, electronics, and military aircraft (sanctions that could affect $12 billion in imports from China). On September 18, 2004, the State Department extended that waiver on the import sanction for six more months. Skeptics say that despite summits, President Bush has not forcefully pressed China's rulers to be more helpful. The Administration has imposed repeated sanctions on "entities." Since 2002, it has relied on China's "considerable influence" on North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons programs, with limited results. The House International Relations Committee held a hearing on May 18, 2004, to consider the Administration's support for China's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group despite PRC ties with Pakistan. China has not joined the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI). China has also opposed a referral of Iran's nuclear weapons programs to the U.N. Security Council for consideration.

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