China continued to supply arms to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist even after the group began the September 11 attack on America, says a senior U.S. official.
The official said that a week after the terrorist attack, the ruling Taliban and the al Qaeda fighters embedded among them, received a shipment of Chinese-made SA-7 missiles. The shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons are similar to the U.S. Stinger.
This official says the shipment raises serious questions about Beijing's pledge to help fight terrorism.
We already know the Taliban and al Qaeda got sizable arms shipments from China, which borders Afghanistan on the north. Opposition forces found huge amounts of Chinese ammunition in the caves of Tora Bora. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says Chinese have been found fighting among al Qaeda.
Earlier this week, Mr. Rumsfeld said eastern alliance forces near Tora Bora made another China-related discovery. "They also interestingly seem to have captured a good deal of Chinese ammunition," Mr. Rumsfeld said.
One U.S. official said the Chinese ammunition may have been left over from the 1980s, when Beijing, along with the United States, was a major supplier of the anti-Soviet mujahideen fighters.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said Tuesday he had "no idea" what Mr. Rumsfeld was referring to in mentioning the large quantities of Chinese ammunition found in al Qaeda caves.
Asked if China had sold weaponry to Afghanistan or neighboring nations, the spokesman said, "the United Nations once adopted the resolution on weapon embargo against Afghanistan, and China has acted according to the Security Council resolutions."
China tests M-11
China's military is improving the accuracy of its newest short-range ballistic missile, the CSS-7. U.S. intelligence agencies detected a flight test of a CSS-7 earlier this week from a test facility in northwest China.
"There was a missile launch of a CSS-7," said a U.S. official familiar with reports of the test at the Shuang Chengzi missile center in Gansu province, northwest of Lanzhou. "This is part of a continuing series of tests they are conducting to improve the accuracy of the missile."
China has deployed about 350 short-range missiles opposite Taiwan and is building up to a force of about 600 missiles over the next several years.
The missiles are a mix of both CSS-7 and CSS-6 missiles. The CSS-7 is also known as the M-11, and defense officials say the current force is being improved with Mod 2 versions that are more lethal in targeting Taiwan.
Officials said the flight test is believed to be one of the Mod 2 versions of the missile.
The official said that a week after the terrorist attack, the ruling Taliban and the al Qaeda fighters embedded among them, received a shipment of Chinese-made SA-7 missiles. The shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons are similar to the U.S. Stinger.
This official says the shipment raises serious questions about Beijing's pledge to help fight terrorism.
We already know the Taliban and al Qaeda got sizable arms shipments from China, which borders Afghanistan on the north. Opposition forces found huge amounts of Chinese ammunition in the caves of Tora Bora. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld says Chinese have been found fighting among al Qaeda.
Earlier this week, Mr. Rumsfeld said eastern alliance forces near Tora Bora made another China-related discovery. "They also interestingly seem to have captured a good deal of Chinese ammunition," Mr. Rumsfeld said.
One U.S. official said the Chinese ammunition may have been left over from the 1980s, when Beijing, along with the United States, was a major supplier of the anti-Soviet mujahideen fighters.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said Tuesday he had "no idea" what Mr. Rumsfeld was referring to in mentioning the large quantities of Chinese ammunition found in al Qaeda caves.
Asked if China had sold weaponry to Afghanistan or neighboring nations, the spokesman said, "the United Nations once adopted the resolution on weapon embargo against Afghanistan, and China has acted according to the Security Council resolutions."
China tests M-11
China's military is improving the accuracy of its newest short-range ballistic missile, the CSS-7. U.S. intelligence agencies detected a flight test of a CSS-7 earlier this week from a test facility in northwest China.
"There was a missile launch of a CSS-7," said a U.S. official familiar with reports of the test at the Shuang Chengzi missile center in Gansu province, northwest of Lanzhou. "This is part of a continuing series of tests they are conducting to improve the accuracy of the missile."
China has deployed about 350 short-range missiles opposite Taiwan and is building up to a force of about 600 missiles over the next several years.
The missiles are a mix of both CSS-7 and CSS-6 missiles. The CSS-7 is also known as the M-11, and defense officials say the current force is being improved with Mod 2 versions that are more lethal in targeting Taiwan.
Officials said the flight test is believed to be one of the Mod 2 versions of the missile.
