U.S. Criticizes China Weapons SalesBy FOSTER KLUG
The Associated Press
Thursday, September 14, 2006; 12:47 PM
WASHINGTON -- Top U.S. officials on Thursday criticized what they called China's
indiscriminate sale of weapons to rogue countries, suggesting that Beijing's
policies had made the world a more dangerous place.
Peter Rodman, assistant secretary of defense for international security, urged China
to reevaluate its relationship with Iran and North Korea, two countries with which
the United States is locked in standoffs over nuclear weapons development.
"China's actions seem to us dangerously shortsighted," Rodman told the U.S.-China
Economic and Security Review Commission, an advisory panel created by Congress.
"China's proliferation behavior, past and present, can come back to haunt it, even
placing its own political interests in jeopardy."
-snip-He mentioned Iran, Sudan, Myanmar, Zimbabwe, Cuba and Venezuela, and also linked
China to North Korea's July missile test launch of seven missiles and to Hezbollah's
use of Chinese-designed cruise missiles on an Israeli naval vessel, also in July.
-snip-