China May Be Giving A-Arms Aid to Algeria

WASHINGTON —  U.S. officials recently told Congress that China appears to be helping Algeria in the development of a nuclear weapons program, a congressional source said Thursday.

The information, which was given to Capitol Hill during an intelligence briefing several weeks ago, casts new doubt on China’s repeated assurances to the United States that it does not engage in nuclear proliferation and will not help other countries develop nuclear weapons.

China’s reported help to Algeria also appears to be a serious setback in efforts to stop the spread of nuclear technology, a leading expert on nuclear proliferation said.

“This is a supplier (China) that seems to be operating without restraint and a recipient (Algeria) that seems to be operating as though this was the norm,” said Leonard S. Spector of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “(Algeria) is a country that doesn’t even have the security problems of, say, Pakistan or Israel. It seems as though a country has entered into a nuclear weapons program rather lightly. It’s almost gratuitous.”

During the early 1980s, the Reagan Administration frequently voiced concern about China’s help for Pakistan’s nuclear program. There have also been unconfirmed reports that China has supplied at least some nuclear technology to Iraq and Iran. On the other hand, more than a decade ago China is said to have rebuffed a Libyan request for nuclear weapons.

The news of China’s help for Algeria’s nuclear program was first reported by the Washington Times in its Thursday editions. The newspaper said that intelligence reports indicate that China “is supplying nuclear weapons technology and military advice on how to match nuclear weapons to various aerial and missile delivery systems.”

At a congressional hearing Thursday, Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), referring to the news report, said: “It’s fairly well known in this town that this is so.” Sen. Alan Cranston (D-Calif.) said that a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee plans hearings soon on China and nuclear proliferation.

State Department officials issued guarded, carefully worded statements that did not confirm the report but also did not appear to contradict it.

Assistant Secretary of State Richard H. Solomon told a congressional hearing that “there is a lot of sensitive intelligence information” involved. He said the Bush Administration hopes to send a top State Department official to China soon to discuss “concerns” about China’s proliferation policies.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters the United States has “indications that China is providing nuclear-related assistance to Algeria.” However, he said, U.S. officials “have no reason to conclude that China has agreed to provide any assistance to Algeria for nuclear weapons development.”

He declined to answer questions about the specific nature of China’s nuclear cooperation with Algeria.

Spector said Thursday that a Bush Administration official has confirmed to him that the Algerian nuclear program is for military purposes and is “a serious problem.”

“This appears to be a reneging on China’s pledge that its nuclear exports would be kept under international safeguard,” Spector said.

A senior Bush Administration official asserted Thursday night that there is no proof yet that Algeria is developing nuclear weapons. “If people start weaponizing, there are things that they do,” he told The Times. “We haven’t seen them yet.”

Chinese officials could not be reached Thursday for comment. On March 27, at a press conference in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen said: “China’s arms sales are very limited. Now nuclear weapons proliferation is prohibited in the world.”

A spokesman for the Algerian Embassy in Washington said there would be no comment Thursday on the country’s nuclear program.