US sanctions on Chinese company opposed

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-04-10 08:46

China opposes US sanctions on a Chinese company that allegedly supported Iran's nuclear program, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"We resolutely oppose some US departments using their laws to sanction a Chinese company," Jiang Yu, the Ministry's spokeswoman, told a news briefing.

She was referring to the US Treasury's decision on Tuesday to freeze assets of LIMMT Economic and Trade Company and ban it from operating in the US, claiming it collaborated with six Iranian companies to transfer nuclear technology from China to Iran.

China has very strict export controls to prevent nuclear proliferation, Jiang said.

To achieve a permanent settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue, the spokeswoman yesterday encouraged Teheran to pursue contacts with world powers.

The US, Russia, China, France, Germany and the United Kingdom said in London on Wednesday they would invite Teheran to talks to find "a diplomatic solution" to the nuclear issue.

The invitation is widely seen as a concrete step in US President Barack Obama's new policy on the Iranian nuclear issue, which is in sharp contrast to the previous administration's avoidance of direct talks with Teheran.

Iran yesterday inaugurated a new facility producing uranium fuel for a planned heavy-water nuclear reactor. The West fears the reactor could be used for producing a nuclear weapon.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has announced the plant's opening during a ceremony in the central city of Isfahan. The plant will produce pellets of uranium oxide to fuel the heavy-water research reactor, which is scheduled to be completed in 2009 or 2010.