Controversial Plutonium Plant Sale to China Still Possible

The announcement by Schröder that the reprocessing plant, located in the town of Hanau, could still be sold to China is likely to upset members of his coalition partner, the Green Party. Party officials and environmentalists had earlier criticized plans to sell the defunct facility owned by Siemens, claiming China could use the plant to produce weapons-grade plutonium.

But the plan got new life on Tuesday after discussions between Schröder and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, who is in Germany on a four-day visit to talk trade and politics. Just one week ago, the Chinese government announced the €50 million ($59.4 million) deal was off the table.

Schröder said the conditions of a possible sale were still being considered by both governments. "When our examination of the matter is completed, we will decide based on the circumstances and the legal framework," the German leader told reporters.

Controversy over the Hanau issue overshadowed a trip to China Schröder made in December. The Greens rejected the sale considerations outright, saying such a deal was unsafe and hypocritical in light of Germany's phase out of its own nuclear power plants. Schröder's announcement today is likely to rekindle the debate at a time when the coalition partners are already sparring over a new immigration law.

Prime Minister Wen said whichever way the German government decides, the issue would not "in any way" negatively affect China and Germany's economic or political cooperation.

"The Chinese side respects the will of the German side," he said.

Focus on trade

Wen's three days in Germany are the first leg of an 11-day tour of Europe that will take him to five EU countries, just days after the European bloc welcomed ten new members into its ranks.

The Chinese leader was met on Sunday at the Munich airport by the head of the state government of Bavaria, Edmund Stoiber. He visited a farm and an Audi factory. On Monday he travelled to Berlin where he met with Schröder. On Tuesday Wen met German President Johannes Rau, former chancellor Helmut Kohl and the head of Germany's main opposition party, Angela Merkel.

Germany is already China's principal trade partner in Europe and Schröder is eager to tap into the market potential of the world's most populous nation. Much of Wen's visit has been dedicated to strengthening business ties.

Wen toured a Siemens power turbine plant in Berlin, where chief executive Heinrich von Pierer said Germany's engineering giant hopes to exploit the skyrocketing demand in China for power generation. He said China adds the equivalent of a quarter of Germany's electricity production capacity every year and is a "booming market." He told reporters the visit could be the start of a "very good cooperation."

During Wen's Germany visit, automaker DaimlerChrysler announced the Chinese government had approved a critical stage in the plan to build Mercedes C and E-class cars at a new factory in Beijing with a Chinese partner.

Playing nice politically

But closer business ties were not the only items on the agenda, politics were also discussed. Schröder announced Germany's support for the "one-China" policy and released a statement saying that it believes that China and Taiwan should be reunified.

"The German government is opposed to the independence of Taiwan," the declaration read.

While German human rights groups and left-leaning lawmakers have urged Schröder in the past to press China on its human rights record, the German government says those rights are best promoted by supporting economic and political reform in China.

Schröder also spoke out in support of lifting the 15-year-old EU weapons embargo on China, although he added that the decision was up to the heads of European Union states. The sanctions were put into place in 1989 after the bloody government crackdown on student protestors in Tiananmen Square.

For his part, Wen voiced his support for Germany's desire to have a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. In a statement entitled "Partnership for Global Responsibility" that both leaders signed, they called for the "overdue reform" of the Security Council. China is one of the five counties who currently do have a permanent seat on the U.N. body.