I really believe we should be honest with each other. This is a political decision, driven by the United States-China October summit rather than the facts of China's weapons proliferation record. The prospect of nuclear cooperation with China is perhaps the clearest illustration yet of the trust but don't verify approach behind the administration's China policy. The administration does not want Chinese President Jiang Zemin to return to Beijing emptyhanded. But I question the need to make concessions to China in the first place.
China has a weapons proliferation record that is unrivaled in the world.
Chinese trade barriers continue to block U.S. goods and companies. In the last several years, Beijing has had a human rights record that has resulted in the most intense religious persecution in several decades, and of course it has also resulted in the silencing of all political dissidents in China, according to our State Department reports. In spite of such behavior, nuclear cooperation with China could become a reality. Beijing has made a host of nonproliferation promises to acquire United States nuclear technology, and the administration is applauding China's efforts. Sadly, China's promises of all new export controls and assurance that no nuclear technology will be sent to unsafeguarded nuclear facilities will do little to stem China's proliferation activity.