This programme, if it is furthered, will put considerably more strain on the military dimension of the Sino-US relationship. China is disturbed by the willingness of the US to share aspects of its advanced technology with Japan and also with Taiwan. China objects, in particular, to the US-Japan military guidelines that were issued in 1999, which it fears will enable Japan to assist any US attempts to protect Taiwan. Under an agreement reached with the US in November, it is reported that China pledged to control exports of missiles and missile parts that may help other states develop the means to deliver nuclear weapons. As a result of that agreement the US announced the waiver of sanctions against China for past missile technology transfers to Iran and Pakistan.
China is reported to have promised to set up a formal, transparent export control system.
China resents what it regards as the hypocritical hegemonism of the US, an insistence that all countries follow rules of international engagement that are generally defined by the US and work in its interests. It is particularly alarmed by the willingness of the US, using what China regards as the fig-leaf of international organisations, to intervene in the affairs of other countries, notably Serbia and Iraq. The US is frustrated by what it sees as China's willingness to obstruct the legitimate aims of the UN Security Council by the use of its veto as one of its five permanent members. The Bush administration will come under pressure, from the religious right in particular, to be more assertive about the Chinese government's violations of religious freedoms, and its treatment of groups such as the Falun Gong. The US continues to supply military technology and to offer backing to Taiwan, to the rage and frustration of China, which insists that this support constitutes yet more US interference in the internal affairs of another country.