CORRECTED COPY (PASS LINE ADDED) - (S) CHINA

S E C R E T BEIJING 006848 DEPT FOR T, EAP AND ISN/CPI EDNA SIDLER E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/24/2017 TAGS: PARM PREL KNNP ETTC EWWT KN CH SUBJECT: CORRECTED COPY (PASS LINE ADDED) - (S) CHINA RECEIVES MILITARY-RELATED GOODS FROM DPRK TO IRAN MESSAGE, NO RESPONSE YET REF: STATE 148514 Classified By: Ambassador Clark T. Randt, Jr. Reasons 1.4 (B) and (D) ¶1. (S) The Ambassador raised reftel demarche on the possible transit of military-related goods from the DPRK to a UN sanctioned entity in Iran through Beijing with Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei (other subjects from that meeting reported septels) October 25. AFM He said China takes its nonproliferation duties seriously and will look into this information. China has two main concerns when it comes to working with the United States on nonproliferation issues, AFM He said. First, to act on the information provided by the United States, China must be sure that the information is accurate and reliable. Second, U.S. decisions to sanction Chinese companies make securing other Chinese agencies' cooperation more difficult to secure. The MFA has no enforcement role in this area, he stressed. ¶2. (S) Separately on the same day, Poloff met with and delivered reftel nonpaper and points to MFA Arms Control and Disarmament Department Missile Division Deputy Director Wang Daxue. Seizing on the conditional phrases in the nonpaper, Wang held forth on the need for the United States to provide "specific, verifiable information" and said that "in this sensitive time" China is loath to "disrupt the positive atmosphere" of the Six-Party Talks. Poloff responded that we provided specific information down to the airway bill number of the suspect shipment, and it is within the capability and the authority of Chinese Customs to investigate the shipment and confirm that it complies with UNSC resolutions and Chinese law. Wang agreed to pass the information "to relevant authorities" and provide "any available information." ¶3. (S) Poloff called Wang at 1815 Beijing time to ask about the results of the Chinese investigation and was told that no information is "available" at this time. Wang declined to answer Poloff's question as to whether or not the shipment was stopped or inspected, repeating that the information is not yet "available." He emphasized that information may not be forthcoming until October 26 at the earliest. Randt