"The Chinese could play a critical role in enforcing non-proliferation," Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., said in a House hearing on the PSI, a multilateral program created two years ago by the Bush administration to stop the global trafficking of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Sherman told the International Terrorism and Nonproliferation subcommittee he is "very disappointed" that South Korea is not a PSI member. China, he said, could be "critical" to prevent WMD trafficking out of North Korea, but Beijing strengthens the communist regime of Kim Jong Il politically by continuing to subsidize the East Asian nation.

"We need more cooperation from China," Sherman said, adding the U.S. administration needs to be willing to tie its economic links with Beijing to increased cooperation in combating nuclear proliferation.

"We have an administration that says: 'If we can't invade it, we're not going to do anything about it,'" he told the committee.

So far, more than 60 countries have joined the PSI, the most recent additions being Argentina, Georgia and Iraq. The initiative, part of President Bush's plan to combat the distribution of weapons of mass destruction, targets WMD and WMD-related items - such as ballistic missiles - coming out of countries of concern in the Middle East and Asia.

PSI facilitates international cooperation to intercept cargo of suspicious material transported on land, in the air, and - most frequently - by sea.

Experts say the most imminent threat stems from North Korea, which declared in February it has nuclear weapons. Because of financial problems, North Korea might be willing to sell excess WMD parts to rogue nations and terrorist organizations, observers say. China and South Korea, nations that have directs borders with North Korea, are essential to stem this threat.

Assistant Secretary of State on Arms Control, Stephen Rademaker, did not comment specifically on North Korea being a threat, or a possible expansion of the initiative to South Korea and China, but he said the initiative was continuously looking for expansion.

He also said that PSI has been a "far greater success than expected."

"In only two years, over 60 countries have joined," he said. "In the last nine months alone, the United States and 10 of our PSI partners have quietly cooperated on 11 successful efforts."

The biggest success of PSI has been the interception of the "BBC China," a ship delivering centrifuges - components integral to building a nuclear weapon - to Libya in 2003. The vessel, with the help of PSI-member countries Germany, Italy and Britain, was directed to an Italian port and stripped of its cargo.

"This caused the (Moammar) Gadhafi regime in Libya to drop its WMD program, so it's definitely a success worth bragging about," Michael O'Hanlon, an arms proliferation expert at the Brookings Institution, a centrist Washington think tank, said Thursday in a telephone interview with United Press International.

"From what I can see, PSI is a very good tool," he said.

But when it comes to North Korea, that tool might not come in handy without Chinese help, experts say.

Robert Einhorn, an international security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a centrist Washington think tank, said Thursday in a statement e-mailed to UPI that "without active Chinese cooperation, interdicting North Korean weapons exports would be very difficult."

"Sensitive goods could be sent across the Korean-Chinese border and then on to destinations around the world," Einhorn said. "Even with Chinese cooperation, it would be hard to interdict a North Korean shipment if it is loaded on a North Korean vessel and if it doesn't stop at a friendly port or pass through territorial seas of a PSI partner country."

Ed Royce, R-Calif. , who chairs the committee that conducted the hearing, said while PSI has received "good grades from analysts, other countries and the U.N. Secretary General, who has endorsed it," the number of reported interdictions suggest "a worrisome level of proliferation activity."

"The PSI grade is not complete because we obviously have no idea what proliferation PSI is missing," he said.

But Rademaker said the PSI shouldn't be judged on the number of interdictions, but on the many instances that the initiative is already discouraging and preventing nations and organizations from trafficking WMDs.

"PSI partners...have prevented Iran from procuring goods to support its missile and WMD programs, including its nuclear program," he said.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2004 by United Press International. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by United Press International. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of by United Press International.

Related Links
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express