Sec. 2. Findings

635 words·~3 min read·/bill/116/s/4946/is/section-2

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

Congress makes the following findings: The People's Republic of China (in this Act referred to as China ), became a full-participant of the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2004, committing it to apply a strong presumption of denial in exporting nuclear-related items that a foreign country could divert to a nuclear weapons program. China also committed to the United States, in November 2000, to abide by the foundational principles of the 1987 Missile Technology Control Regime

(MTCR)to not assist, in any way, any country in the development of ballistic missiles that can be used to deliver nuclear weapons (i.e., missiles capable of delivering a payload of at least 500 kilograms to a distance of at least 300 kilometers) . In the 1980s, China secretly sold the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (in this Act referred to as Saudi Arabia ) conventionally armed DF–3A ballistic missiles, and in 2007, reportedly sold Saudi Arabia dual-use capable DF–21 medium-range ballistic missiles of a 300 kilometer, 500-kilogram range and payload threshold which should have triggered a denial of sale under the MTCR. The 2020 Department of State Report on the Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments found that China continued to supply MTCR-controlled goods to missile programs of proliferation concern in 2019 and that the United States imposed sanctions on nine Chinese entities for covered missile transfers to Iran. A June 5, 2019, press report indicated that China allegedly provided assistance to Saudi Arabia in the development of a ballistic missile facility, which if confirmed, would violate the purpose of the MTCR and run contrary to the longstanding United States policy priority to prevent weapons of mass destruction proliferation in the Middle East. The Arms Export and Control Act of 1976 ( Public Law 93–329 ) requires the President to sanction any foreign person or government who knowingly exports, transfers, or otherwise engages in the trade of any MTCR equipment or technology to a country that does not adhere to the MTCR. China concluded two nuclear cooperation agreements with Saudi Arabia in 2012 and 2017, respectively, which may facilitate China’s bid to build two reactors in Saudi Arabia to generate 2.9 Gigawatt-electric

(GWe)of electricity. On August 4, 2020, a press report revealed the alleged existence of a previously undisclosed uranium yellowcake extraction facility in Saudi Arabia allegedly constructed with the assistance of China, which if confirmed, would indicate significant progress by Saudi Arabia in developing the early stages of the nuclear fuel cycle that precede uranium enrichment. Saudi Arabia's outdated Small Quantities Protocol and its lack of an in force Additional Protocol to its International Atomic Energy Agency

(IAEA)Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement severely curtails IAEA inspections, which has led the Agency to call upon Saudi Arabia to either rescind or update its Small Quantities Protocol. In May 24, 2018, testimony before the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States would insist upon the gold standard in any bilateral civilian nuclear cooperation 123 agreement with Saudi Arabia—no in-country enrichment of uranium or reprocessing of plutonium—a standard the United States achieved with the United Arab Emirates in their own May 2009 bilateral 123 agreement. On March 15, 2018, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin-Salman, stated that if Iran developed a nuclear bomb, we would follow suit as soon as possible, raising questions about whether a Saudi Arabian nuclear program would remain exclusively peaceful, particularly in the absence of robust international IAEA safeguards. An August 9, 2019, study by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights found that the Saudi Arabia-led military coalition airstrikes in Yemen and its restrictions on the flow of humanitarian assistance to the country, both of which have disproportionately impacted civilians, may be violations of international humanitarian law.

Connections1 off-index

1 reference not yet in our index

Pub. L. 93-329

Citation graph

cites case law

Sec. 2

Findings

Pub. L.Pub. L. 93-329

Cites 1Cited by 0 across 0 sources