Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports the Government has received on involvement by the China National Nuclear Corporation in the illegal supply of 5,000 ring magnets to Pakistan of a type suitable for use in gas centrifuges to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.

There were media reports in the mid-1990s of a transfer of 5,000 ring magnets by the China National Nuclear Corporation to Pakistan. China strongly denied government awareness or involvement. In 2004 China joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group, of which the UK is also a member, which agrees guidelines for the transfer of potentially sensitive nuclear-related technologies and material between states.