U.S. woman denies aiding Pakistan nuke project
5:30 AM, Jul. 13, 2011 |
Douglas Birch
WASHINGTON A wealthy San Francisco-area suburbanite on Tuesday rebutted charges that she was the ringleader of a scheme to illegally export special paint used in the construction of a Pakistani nuclear plant, a project some Western experts fear will produce plutonium for the country's expanding nuclear arsenal.
Xu Wang, 51, was arrested at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport last month, court records show, as she and her family were headed to Italy to celebrate her oldest daughter's graduation from prep school before starting Princeton in the fall. Wang has been in custody ever since.
At a detention hearing in federal court here, Wang's lawyers argued that charges against her were "technical," that she was at worst peripherally involved in the scheme and that any connection between the case against her and the global spread of nuclear weapons was purely speculative.
"This case is about paint," said attorney Bruce Baird, as his client sat at the defendant's table in short-sleeve prison garb. "One thing we know for sure, it's not a case representing a threat to America."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson on Tuesday denied the government's request that Wang be held without bond, but stayed the order pending a hearing Wednesday to set the terms of her release. She and her husband had pledged to put up their $2.3 million home in Hillsborough, California, as collateral.
Wang, who has a doctorate in physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, was charged with three counts of violating U.S. export laws and one count of conspiracy in connection with a Chinese government-owned company's purchase of 625 gallons (2,365 liters) of paint for Pakistan's Chashma II nuclear power plant. The felony charges carry a maximum penalty of 65 years in prison and fines of more than $1 million.
The case highlights China's commercial ties to Pakistan's nuclear program. Islamabad, which has never signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, first tested a nuclear weapon in 1998 and is estimated to have built between 70 and 120 warheads in its ongoing arms race with rival nuclear power India.
The Wang case also demonstrates the challenges prosecutors can face enforcing economic sanctions, which often involve the sale of so-called "dual-use" technology that can have civilian as well as military purposes.
Judge Robinson appeared skeptical, questioning the prosecution's assertion that the case had "serious national security implications."
These americans are such jokers. Reasons to be racist pull in chinese pakistanis etc
5:30 AM, Jul. 13, 2011 |
Douglas Birch
WASHINGTON A wealthy San Francisco-area suburbanite on Tuesday rebutted charges that she was the ringleader of a scheme to illegally export special paint used in the construction of a Pakistani nuclear plant, a project some Western experts fear will produce plutonium for the country's expanding nuclear arsenal.
Xu Wang, 51, was arrested at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson airport last month, court records show, as she and her family were headed to Italy to celebrate her oldest daughter's graduation from prep school before starting Princeton in the fall. Wang has been in custody ever since.
At a detention hearing in federal court here, Wang's lawyers argued that charges against her were "technical," that she was at worst peripherally involved in the scheme and that any connection between the case against her and the global spread of nuclear weapons was purely speculative.
"This case is about paint," said attorney Bruce Baird, as his client sat at the defendant's table in short-sleeve prison garb. "One thing we know for sure, it's not a case representing a threat to America."
U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson on Tuesday denied the government's request that Wang be held without bond, but stayed the order pending a hearing Wednesday to set the terms of her release. She and her husband had pledged to put up their $2.3 million home in Hillsborough, California, as collateral.
Wang, who has a doctorate in physics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, was charged with three counts of violating U.S. export laws and one count of conspiracy in connection with a Chinese government-owned company's purchase of 625 gallons (2,365 liters) of paint for Pakistan's Chashma II nuclear power plant. The felony charges carry a maximum penalty of 65 years in prison and fines of more than $1 million.
The case highlights China's commercial ties to Pakistan's nuclear program. Islamabad, which has never signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, first tested a nuclear weapon in 1998 and is estimated to have built between 70 and 120 warheads in its ongoing arms race with rival nuclear power India.
The Wang case also demonstrates the challenges prosecutors can face enforcing economic sanctions, which often involve the sale of so-called "dual-use" technology that can have civilian as well as military purposes.
Judge Robinson appeared skeptical, questioning the prosecution's assertion that the case had "serious national security implications."
These americans are such jokers. Reasons to be racist pull in chinese pakistanis etc
