Topics in Brief

• Author: International Law Group

China tightens controls over its missile exports

Effective August 25, 2002, China has issued "Regulations on Export Control of Missiles and Missile-related Items and Technologies" to further strengthen its non-proliferation policies. Attached to the Regulations is a "Control List" of affected items. In essence, the Regulations provide for a mandatory licensing system for exports of missile technology. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (MOFTEC), which controls all exports from China, announced that it will strictly enforce the new Regulations.

The press statement also noted that the Foreign Trade Law of 1994 already restricts the export of goods and technologies that are harmful to national security or public interests. Between 1994 and now, China has put out several regulations to control the exports of potentially dangerous goods, such as chemicals, nuclear technology, and military products.

Citation: Newsletter, Embassy of the People's Republic of China (Washington, D.C.), Special issue August 25, 2002; "China tightens control on missile exports," ChinaOnline report of August 27, 2002.

U S. chides East Timor human rights prosecutors

On August 14 and 15, Indonesia's Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal for East Timor handed down its first verdicts. It acquitted six of seven defendants of committing gross human rights violations. Philip T. Reeker, Deputy Spokesman for the U.S. State Department announced its disappointment that prosecutors in these cases had failed to make full use of the voluminous evidence which the United Nations and others had made available to them. In Secretary of State Powell's opinion, the establishment of the Ad Hoc Tribunal constituted an intrepid step toward punishing those guilty of past outrages. It also sent up a warning flag to those tempted to carry out new human rights violations in the region. The recent verdicts are subject to appeals.

Citation: Press Statement (Revised) by Philip T. Reeker, Deputy State Department Spokesman, Washington, D.C., August 19, 2002. [For all press statements, see http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/].

Japanese court rejects WWII biological warfare claims

A three- judge Japanese court has turned down claims for...