US not satisfied, but says Beijing is doing better Beijing has improved its efforts to stop the sale of nuclear and missile technology abroad, but has still not satisfied the US, American officials said yesterday. Growing international attention to the nuclear programmes of Iran and North Korea - and subsequent revelations that China helped those countries obtain missile and nuclear weapons technology - had made Beijing less willing to flout the will of the international community, the officials said. 'I think the Chinese are increasingly sensitive to our concerns and worried about the disruption to their foreign policy caused by this type of behaviour,' said Peter Rodman, assistant secretary of defence for international security affairs. Beijing has had a bad reputation among many US policymakers for its role in selling technology that can be used for nuclear and missile technology to countries such as Pakistan, Iran and North Korea. The officials noted some improvements that Beijing had made in recent years in strengthening its non-proliferation efforts, such as joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group in 2004 and by promulgating domestic laws and strengthening its means to monitor companies selling prohibited items abroad. But they said Beijing was still not doing enough to curb the sale of sensitive technology. 'We remain disappointed in the continuing proliferant behaviour of certain Chinese entities, and we remain deeply concerned about the Chinese government's commitment toward its non-proliferation obligations,' said Paula DeSutter, assistant secretary of state for verification, compliance and implementation. Mr Rodman and Ms DeSutter were speaking before the US Congress during a hearing organised by the US-China Economic Security Review Commission. In June, Washington imposed sanctions on four mainland companies for selling prohibited missile technology to Iran, the latest in a long series of sanctions for similar activities. All of the companies cited in June have previously been cited for similar sales. However, it is not clear to what extent the central government is aware of companies' proliferation activities, and why it has been unable to curb those activities. 'It's a combination of having political will and the administrative capability, and they need more of both,' Mr Rodman said. 'Either way, our duty is the same: to keep the pressure on them.' A commission member asked whether Beijing was allowing Iranian and Pakistani military planes to refuel on Chinese territory while transporting missile and nuclear technology to and from North Korea. Mr Rodman and Ms DeSutter both said they did not know.