US bans Chinese company for Iran sales

The US has slapped a two-year import ban on one of China’s biggest conglomerates, a company with close ties to the Chinese army, for se...

The US has slapped a two-year import ban on one of China’s biggest conglomerates, a company with close ties to the Chinese army, for selling technology to Iran that could be used to develop missiles capable of delivering chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.

The sanctions, approved by President Bush, amount to the biggest penalty ever levelled against a Chinese company in connection with proliferation of weapons, a US official said. They are likely to roil US-Chinese relations at a particularly delicate time, when Beijing has been instrumental in brokering talks between the US and North Korea aimed at halting Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons.

China maintains silence

BEIJING: China was silent on Friday on sanctions imposed by the US for alleged ballistic missile cooperation with Iran, but analysts said it was unlikely to derail an imminent meeting between Chinese and US leaders.

Washington imposed sanctions on North China Industries, or Norinco, and an Iranian firm, will deprive the Chinese conglomerate of more than $200 million in exports to the US over the next two years, according to US estimates. ‘‘We have no comment,’’ a Norinco spokesman said. ‘‘We will make a statement in a few days.’’ (Reuters)

China has long been accused by the US of supplying missile technology to Iran, Pakistan and other countries, but in the past several years it has pledged to crack down on the practice. The new sanctions will block all imports from North China Industries Corp, a state-owned defence consortium.

In addition to its role as a major arms exporter, NORINCO also manufactures goods ranging from teddy bears to hunting rifles. It does more than $100 million worth of business annually with the US. While damaging to NORINCO, the sanctions won’t make much of an impact in overall US-China trade, which totals tens of billions of dollars annually.

The US often imposes sanctions on companies it suspects of weapons proliferation, rather than countries. In addition to holding negotiations recently in Beijing between the US and N Korea, China voted in the UN Security Council on Thursday to approve an indefinite US-led occupation of Iraq, giving the United States and Britain control over Iraqi oil revenue and reconstruction.

The sanctions are likely to be an embarrassment to China’s new President, Hu Jintao, just as he makes his first overseas trip since assuming office. While not participating formally in the meeting of major industrial nations at the end of May, he will be an informal participant and will confer with Bush, China announced Thursday. The meeting of the so-called Group of 8 will be held in Evian, France. Hu also will join Bush and other world leaders at the 300th anniversary celebrations of St Petersburg, Russia.

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“The president decided to impose the import ban after US intelligence agencies recently revealed NORINCO’s sales to Iran that could enhance Tehran’s development of missiles,” US officials said. The same type of sanctions were imposed on an Iranian company, the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group, but it won’t have no impact since the US doesn’t conduct any trade with it.

The sanctions, which took effect May 9, were revealed in a notice Thursday. The State Department issued a brief statement saying the penalties were imposed because ‘‘the US government determined that these entities contributed materially to the efforts of a foreign country, in this case Iran, to use, acquire, design, develop, produce or stockpile missiles capable of delivering weapons of mass destruction.’’

The department said China had been notified, but a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy declined to respond to a request for comment. (LAT-WP)