Four Chinese missile manufacturers and exporters were slapped with US sanctions for illicit sales related to North Korea, Iran, and Syria, the State Department said in a statement late Monday.

The sanctions were imposed under the Iran, North Korea, Syria Nonproliferaiton Act on four Chinese firms as well as two Belarusian companies.

The Chinese firms include the China Precision Machinery Import Export Corp., a company identified recently by the Washington Free Beacon as working with Egypt's government and North Korea to modernize Cairo's short-range Scud missiles.

The other Chinese firms were identified as BST Technology and Trade Company, Dalian Sunny Industries, and Poly Technologies Incorporated. A Chinese national sanctioned in the past for his role in illicit arms and missile transfers to the Middle East was also sanctioned. He was identified as Li Fangwei, also known as Karl Lee.

Rick Fisher, a China analyst at the International Assessment and Strategy Center, said Dalian Sunny and Karl Lee are well known arms proliferators with activities that span two US administrations.

‪"It does not appear that China is listening to US complaints or sanctions, in much the same way as it refuses to talk about its growing nuclear missile arsenal, and its growing threats to Taiwan and Japan," Fisher said.

‪"It simply begs credulity that two US administrations have sailed along blithely in hopes that 'dialogue' and wrist-slap sanctions would have any impact on a Chinese regime that has clearly decided to sell, give, or facilitate the transfer of missile technology to Iran and North Korea so they can target the United States and its allies with nuclear missiles," Fisher said.

‪"In Realville, this would be called an act of war, but in Washington, it appears to be cause to reward China's leaders with invitations to global nuclear control summits."

Two Iranian companies, the Iran Electronics Industries (IEI) and Marine Industries Organization (MIO) and one Iranian national identified as Milad Jafari were sanctioned. Additionally, two Sudanese companies (Al-Zargaa Engineering Complex (ZEC) and SMT Engineering), one Syrian agency (Army Supply Bureau (ASB)), and one Venezuelan firm (the Venezuelan Military Industry Company (CAVIM)), also were named.

As with past practice, the State Department provided no details of the sanctions activities.

The sanctions were based on "credible information indicating they had transferred to, or acquired from, Iran, North Korea, or Syria, equipment and technology listed on multilateral export control lists (Australia Group, Chemical Weapons Convention, Missile Technology Control Regime, Nuclear Suppliers Group, Wassenaar Arrangement), or items that are not listed, but nevertheless, could materially contribute to a weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or cruise or ballistic missile program."

READ FULL SOURCE ARTICLE: 02/12/2013