Especially egregious, in his sight, was China's assistance to Pakistan in building a missile factory while the debate on China's trade status is going on in Congress. China has also supplied weapons systems to countries as diverse as Libya, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and Iran, he said. The U.S. responses could address, among other things, China's access to American capital markets, Thompson said. Mr. President, we will shortly be taking up the matter of permanent normal trade relations with China. Not only are we considering trade with someone other than an ally, someone other than a nation that shares our values and outlooks on life, but we are beginning a new relationship with a nation that is actively involved in activities that go against the national security of this nation, and go against the security of the entire world.
China still is one of the world's leading proliferators of weapons of mass destruction.
We are right now engaged in a debate in this country over a national missile defense because of the activities of certain rogue nations and the weapons of mass destruction that they are rapidly developing. They're developing those weapons, Mr. President, in large part because of the assistance they're getting from the Chinese. It has carried out extensive transfers to Iran's solid fuel ballistic missile programs, and has supplied Pakistan with the design for nuclear weapons and additional nuclear weapons assistance. It has even transferred complete ballistic missile systems to Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. China's behavior thus far makes it appear unlikely it will soon effectively reduce its sizable transfers of critical technology, experts, or expertise, to the emerging missile powers.