US warns China over weapon links in Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan

The United States has warned Beijing over reported use of Chinese weapons by insurgents in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as the Asian giant's continued sale of arms to Iran, Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte said.

He said he conveyed the concerns personally to Chinese officials during his visit to Beijing this week.

"Just the other day, Monday, when I was in Beijing, this was one of the
issues I raised -- concern about Chinese weapons or Chinese-designed
weapons showing up in some of these battle areas, be it Iraq or Afghanistan," he told a congressional hearing on US-China ties.

The US military in Iraq had said its troops had found Chinese-made
missiles which they believe were smuggled in by groups in Iran aiming
to arm militants fighting US-led forces.

The US military has repeatedly accused Iranian-linked groups of
training Iraqi extremists in the use of armor-piercing weapons known as
explosively-formed penetrators (EFPs).

Afghan authorities had also seized dozens of Iranian and Chinese-made weapons from Taliban fighters near the border with Iran.

The weapons, including land mines and rocket-propelled grenades,
appeared to have been manufactured in Iran and China, reports have said.

Negroponte told the US senators that Washington "made it clear" to
Beijing that Chinese entities' continued sale of conventional weapons
to Iran "is unacceptable."

He said Chinese officials told him "they have scaled way back their sale of conventional weapons to Iran."

"They had relationships previously where they exported these weapons but they have dialed that back," he said.

Negroponte, a former US intelligence czar, said that China understood Washington's position that Iran presented "a grave international and regional security concern."

Beijing also understood that the US government "reserves the right to
apply all multilateral, bilateral and unilateral measures at our
disposal to ensure that our concerns are addressed."

Make no mistake, China is trying to become a world power player again, and they are doing everything they can to bleed us out. This is just another way of them doing it. Until we slap their hand back viciously enough, they simply aren't going to catch a clue. This is why we need to take a more direct approach with them.

Diplomacy does indeed help, but with their attacks on our computer networks, we need to retaliate in kind. They know damned good and well that making deals with Iran is going to cost us. Yet, they do it anyways. Perhaps we should start having dealings with their enemies and see how they like it.

Or, we can do one better. Let's bleed them out. Let's impose tariffs on goods manufactured in China until companies realize that it's no longer profitable to have centers in China. If manufacturers leave China, they'll have a major problem on their hands. Their economy won't prosper as much as it has, and with 1.3 billion people, even relatively minor problems become major ones in a quick hurry.

Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com