 China has failed to heed U.S. warnings to stop missile exports to Iran. U.S. officials said state-owned Chinese defense firms continue to send missile components and technology to Teheran. The officials said that despite repeated warnings the flow of Chinese components and technology has bolstered Iran's medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missile programs. "On numerous occasions we have expressed our concern about these entities to the Chinese government and have asked Beijing to subject exports by these serial proliferators to persistent and close scrutiny," Undersecretary of State John Bolton said. "Unfortunately, we continue to see transfers by these serious proliferators of missile-related items to rogue states and outposts of tyranny such as Iran." Addressing a conference in Tokyo on Feb. 8, Bolton identified China's main missile clients as Iran, Libya, North Korea and Pakistan. He said Chinese state-owned firms have been sanctioned for providing ballistic missile technology to these countries, some of them proliferators themselves. |