WASHINGTON, July 19—Concerns are growing about China’s potential sale of two nuclear reactors to Pakistan. The United States should oppose the transaction in its current form and pressure China to reverse course, contends a new paper by Ashley J. Tellis. While some observers believe that the recent U.S.–India civil nuclear deal complicates Washington’s ability to credibly resist the China–Pakistan agreement, the two deals are fundamentally different.
Key findings:
- The U.S.–India deal was public. Unlike the secret Sino–Pakistani agreement, the U.S.-India deal was publicly debated in both countries.
- China risks reneging on its obligations. When China joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2004, it agreed not to sell nuclear material to non-nuclear-weapon states that do not accept full-scope safeguards. A sale to Pakistan violates those terms.
- Deal undermines the nonproliferation regime. While the United States requested a special waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group to sell nuclear material to India, China has given no indication that it has such plans for Pakistan.
- The United States can make a difference. In the past, Washington has successfully pressured Beijing—both multilaterally and bilaterally—to halt nuclear sales to Pakistan.
“The record of the last decade suggests that the United States has been successful in impeding problematic Chinese nuclear sales to Pakistan whenever it has remonstrated with Beijing at very high levels of government in both capitals,” Tellis writes. “There is no reason why President Obama cannot sustain this record of American achievement if he invests time and attention on this issue, given the emphasis he has placed on managing nuclear proliferation.”
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NOTES
- Click here to read the commentary online
- Ashley J. Tellis is a senior associate in the Carnegie South Asia program. He specializes in international security, defense, and Asian strategic issues and was intimately involved in the negotiations associated with the U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement. Previously, he was a senior adviser to the U.S. ambassador to India and was a special assistant to the president and senior director for strategic planning and Southwest Asia in the NSC.
- The Carnegie South Asia Program offers in-depth expertise on a range of issues relating to South Asia, including nonproliferation, international security, and political and economic development.
- Press Contact: David Kampf, 202-939-2233, pressoffice@ceip.org
