China slams US action on Iran-linked firms

BEIJING, Jun 15: China denounced a US decision to sanction four Chinese companies suspected of supporting Iran's military and weapons programmes as irresponsible on Thursday and said it damaged bilateral relations.

The U S Treasury Department on Tuesday named four Chinese and one U S company, freezing their U.S. assets and barring U S firms or people from doing business with them.

''There was no justification and it's irresponsible,'' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a regular news conference, adding the measures were taken without proof.

''China expresses its extreme disapproval and opposition.

China opposes the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and does not permit any company or person assisting or getting involved in proliferation in any way,'' she added.

Jiang said the dispute could hurt Sino-U.S. relations, and called on Washington to re-think its decision.

The executive order used in Tuesday's announcement is aimed at choking off funding for weapons programmes in North Korea, Iran and Syria.

The companies were named as the United States, Russia, France, China, Britain and Germany seek to pressure Iran to drop its nuclear programme with the promise of rewards if it does so and sanctions if it does not.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was in Shanghai on Thursday to attend a summit of a Central Asian security group as an observer.

China and the United States are involved in stalled six-party talks aimed at reining in North Korea's nuclear programme.

REUTERS