Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

27 March 1998

TRANSCRIPT: STATE DEPARTMENT NOON BRIEFING, MARCH 27, 1998

DEPARTMENT OF STATE
DAILY PRESS BRIEFING INDEX
Friday, March 27, 1998
Briefer:  James B. Foley
STATEMENT
CHINA
10-11 Acting Under Secretary Holum re China and Non-Proliferation
.................
Q: Mr. Holum, the Under Secretary of State, said in Beijing that the
United States is satisfied with China, that Beijing has kept its words
on the nuclear nonproliferation. Does that mean that President Clinton
is ready to offer China access to missile technology on his trip to
Beijing?
MR. FOLEY: Well, we've had a series of articles that have appeared in
the media in Washington - one based on allegedly leaked secret
documents; secondly, the astonishing publication of an allegedly
secret document; and all kinds of follow-up articles and speculation
in this regard - none of which bear any resemblance to the truth or to
the facts.
It's interesting to go forward with publishing an allegedly secret
document, claiming a smoking gun, in effect, that just wasn't there. I
cannot state clearly enough that the United States is not proposing
any offers of access to missile technology. The report is flat wrong.
Q: Before US and China signed treaty on nuclear issues, is China going
to pledge already to accept US position that it will not sell any kind
of technology, especially missile, to Pakistan, Libya, Iran and other
countries?
MR. FOLEY: Well, we are, of course, always concerned about any reports
of the transfer of such technology to other nations. We are vigilant
in assessing such reports. We don't have indications that there's been
any deviation from commitments that we have from Chinese authorities
in this regard.
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(end transcript)