U.S.-Sanctioned Chinese Company Ships Equipment to Iraq

A shipment of power-station equipment from a U.S.-sanctioned Chinese company is expected to reach Iraq next month, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, July 25, 2002).

The $13 million shipment is the first export to Iraq by the China National Machinery & Equipment Import & Export Corp. (CMEC) since the U.S.-led takeover in Iraq, said CMEC project manager Liu Tong. The shipment was part of a $700 million contract signed with prewar Iraq under the U.N. oil-for-food program, the Post reported.

In July 2002, though, the United States sanctioned CMEC and several other Chinese companies for shipping WMD-related materials to Iraq in violation of the Iran-Iraq Arms Nonproliferation Act of 1992. Under those sanctions, CMEC was prohibited from doing business with the United States or receiving any U.S. import/export licenses for two years (Al Kamen, Washington Post, Nov. 24).

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