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US convinced China to halt nuke assistance to Pak: Clinton

C K Arora in Washington

President Bill Clinton has said that the United States has convinced China to halt its assistance to unsafeguarded nuclear facilities in Pakistan.

Speaking at a meeting on the eve of his appointment with visiting Chinese Prime Minister Zhu Rongji scheduled for later in the day today, he said China had been ''our partner in averting a nuclear confrontation in South Asia.''

''Now it's important that China joins the Missile Technology Control Regime, a step President Jiang (Zemin) agreed to consider at last year's summit in Beijing,'' he added.

Apparently referring to the alleged theft of sensitive US nuclear weapons technology by China, he said, ''We are determined to prevent the diversion of technology and sensitive information to China. The restrictions we place on our export to China are tougher than those applied to any other major exporting country in the world,'' he added.

''Not long ago, China was selling dangerous weapons and technologies with impunity. Since the 1980s, it has joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological Weapons Convention, and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty -- and accepted the safeguards, reporting requirements, and inspection systems that go with each,'' he added.

UNI

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