Chinese Missile Deal May Bring Sanctions

After months of indecision, the Clinton Administration has concluded that China breached international arms control guidelines by selling missile components to Pakistan, opening the way for U.S. economic sanctions against China, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

A decision to bar U.S. companies from certain high-technology trade with China could come as early as this week, State Department officials said. President Clinton is required by law to curtail such trade if foreign countries make deals in violation of the Missile Technology Control Regime, a set of international guidelines designed to limit the spread of missile-related equipment.

U.S. intelligence analysts had been divided for months over whether China had actually delivered components for M-11 missiles to Pakistan. The M-11, with a 300-mile range, can be equipped with nuclear warheads. A “consensus” on the evidence has now been reached in the U.S. intelligence community that China made the sales, a State Department official said.

In a last-ditch effort to avoid a confrontation, the Administration is still trying to persuade China to adhere to the technology control guidelines, a State Department official said, adding that he was not optimistic in view of past efforts.

Last month, Lynn Davis, the undersecretary of state for international security affairs, visited Beijing to appeal for adherence to the non-proliferation guidelines. China denied making illicit sales, insisting that it abides by the missile accord, although it has not formally signed the 1987 international agreement.

Pakistan has denied receiving the banned technology from China.