China to help develop Chashma II plant

10 Mar, 2004

China will help Pakistan to develop Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Phase II for producing electricity, said a spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Office, Liu Jianchao.
He told reporters here at a weekly news briefing that China-Pakistan co-operation for development of nuclear power plant is purely for peaceful purpose and it has nothing to do with transfer of nuclear technology.
The spokesman rejected the allegations of having any illegal deal between the two countries.
Several years ago, the spokesman said, the two countries agreed to have bilateral co-operation for development of nuclear power plants for generating electricity.
Commenting on reports appearing in a section of the press that China was providing nuclear assistance to Pakistan, Liu Jianchao said China-Pakistan bilateral co-operation is purely for peaceful purpose and is confined to only power generation.
The co-operation to this effect, he added, is also open to the inspection by UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
He said the details of co-operation are being worked between the relevant departments.
It was also agreed that the relevant technology for power generation would not be transferred to any third party.
The two countries had signed a Memorandum of Understanding last year for setting up another 300 mw nuclear power plant in Pakistan to be called 'Chashma-II'.
The MoU was inked in presence of Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
The spokesman said that China resolutely opposes proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and their delivery system. China does not support or encourage any country to develop WMD and their means of delivery.
China holds that the fundamental purpose of non-proliferation is to safeguard and promote international and regional peace and security, and all measures to this end should be conductive to attaining this goal, he added.
The spokesman said that China stands for the attainment of non-proliferation goal through peaceful means. "We are prepared to co-operate with the relevant countries and organisations to check the export of nuclear weapons and the technology as well," he said.
In recent years, he said, China has adopted a series of measures to step up its control on the export of such technology.
"The measures we have adopted are now guaranteed by law and regulations. Now we are in process of ensuring effective implementation of the relevant law and regulations," Liu added.

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