BEIJING — Vice President Dick Cheney arrived in China yesterday where he is expected to be pressed by Chinese leaders to ease U.S. export controls as part of Beijing’s plan to build up to 60 nuclear power reactors in the coming years.
Mr. Cheney arrived here from Tokyo yesterday afternoon and met with Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong. Today, he is scheduled to hold talks with Chinese leaders on trade, terrorism and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Mr. Zeng asked Mr. Cheney during the meeting to stop the United States from selling defensive weapons to Taiwan, according to Chinese news reports.
“We hope the United States can carry out its commitment and not sell weapons to Taiwan and not send wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces,” Mr. Zeng reportedly told Mr. Cheney.
Mr. Cheney said during a dinner with Mr. Zeng that “we believe we can do good work together.” Mr. Cheney is scheduled to meet today with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, National Military Commission leader Jiang Zemin and President Hu Jintao.
One Bush administration official said the Chinese are expected to press Mr. Cheney to further loosen restrictions on nuclear technology after an offer was made recently from Chinese leaders to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. He was told China will build between 50 and 60 nuclear reactors over the next 16 years.
A U.S. official said the United States will endorse China’s admittance to the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a 30-nation association that seeks to control exports of nuclear materials, equipment and technology. The official said the decision to admit China to the group will likely be criticized by officials who view China as a major source of nuclear proliferation to rogue states.
The issue of nuclear technology sales to China has touched off a debate within the Bush administration. On one side are officials who view nuclear reactor sales as a way to spur job creation in the United States, a key issue in the presidential campaign.
Other officials believe the Chinese have a record of spreading nuclear technology to rogue states. These officials said China likely will offer to buy billions of dollars worth of U.S. reactors, but in reality will only purchase one or two and then reverse engineer the reactors and make them indigenously.
“There are obviously proliferation issues here, but I think job creation is the big driver,” said one official speaking on the condition of anonymity.
A senior Bush administration official in Beijing told reporters that the vice president will not boost “individual commercial transactions” related to the nuclear reactors. Mr. Cheney will tell the Chinese that “we support the efforts of our American companies,” the senior official said.
Some industry and trade groups have been pressing the Bush administration to loosen controls on nuclear transfers to China.
China is facing an energy crisis as its modernization proceeds and its need for energy increases. The country has not found any major oil reserves and thus is seeking nuclear reactors to produce electricity for its economy.
In September, Mr. Abraham signed a statement with China described as a “statement of intent” aimed at preventing China’s transfer of nuclear technology that could be used for weapons development.
Then in January, the United States signed another agreement aimed at increasing cooperation to halt the spread of nuclear technology.
China is helping Pakistan build two nuclear reactors that will produce plutonium and was a major contributor to Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program. The state-owned China Nuclear Energy Industry Corporation was caught selling 5,000 ring magnets to Pakistan in 1994. The magnets were used in centrifuges that spun gas into highly enriched uranium for Pakistan’s nuclear bomb.
China weapons-design information was uncovered earlier this year in Libya in dismantling Tripoli’s nuclear arms program. A Chinese-language document was found that contained information on how to make a nuclear warhead for a missile.
The document was believed to have come from the network of nuclear technology sellers headed by Abdul Qadeer Khan, considered the father of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program. He was pardoned by the Pakistan government for his role in illicit nuclear sales.
The document showed that China’s nuclear arms proliferation had spread beyond Pakistan.
Other key issues to be raised during Mr. Cheney’s talks include North Korea’s nuclear arms program. China has played a leading role in six-nation talks, but so far there has been no breakthrough in getting Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear arms program.
The New York Times reported yesterday that Mr. Khan inspected nuclear weapons in Pakistan as little as five years ago.
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