Conditions Could End China Nuke Deal, Critics Claim

The volatile discussions in the German parliament over the proposed sale of a plutonium plant to China could lead to the communist regime losing interest, according to Green party legal expert Volker Beck. Beck’s statement on Wednesday was echoed by Social Democrats energy expert Hermann Scheer. “Peking will never accept the conditions,” Scheer said. “The business is dead de facto.” On Tuesday, the SPD and Greens decided only to permit the deal if the nuclear factory is put under the permanent control of the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA. China would have to guarantee that the plant is used for peaceful purposes only. Critics see the Chinese opposition to IAEA supervision as the effective death knell for the deal.