Russia says suspect sold China rocket technology
Created by Larkins Dsouza on May 26th, 2007 No Comments »
The chief executive of a Russian space technology firm sold China secret technology for the creation of missile delivery systems, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday.br /The FSB said in November they had arrested Igor Reshetin, general director of the TsNIIMASH-Export firm, for selling technology that could have been converted to military use and for failing to obtain government approval.br /An FSB spokesman said in a statement on Thursday Reshetin was accused of “the illegal export and sale to the All China Import-Export Company of Precision Machine Building controlled technology … which could be used in the creation of missile delivery systems for weapons of mass destruction”.br /China is spending the equivalent of billions of dollars on developing its military and civilian space programmes, a source of friction with the United States.br /Beijing’s space capability aroused concern in January when, it destroyed one of its ageing satellites by launching a missile from earth.br /In 2003, China became only the third country — after the United States and the former Soviet Union — to launch a man into space aboard one of its own rockets. In October 2005, it sent two men into orbit and plans a space walk by 2008.br /Russia, resurgent from a decade of economic decline, and China, emerging as a new global power, are both seeking to boost their influence in the post-Cold War world.br /Russian President Vladimir Putin said during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to Moscow in March that Moscow’s relations with Beijing were exemplary.br /But senior Russian officials view China’s growing military and economic might with concern.br /The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet Union’s KGB, has enjoyed increased influence since Vladimir Putin, a former spy, was elected president in 2000.
