China says Pakistan nuclear plants are for peaceful use

China said on Thursday its civilian nuclear cooperation with Pakistan was for peaceful purposes, after the United States said it was seeking clarification from China on a deal to build two new reactors.

"I want to stress that the civilian nuclear cooperation between China and Pakistan is in line with each side's international obligations," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told a news briefing in Beijing.

"It is for peaceful purposes, and is under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency," he added without elaborating.

US state department spokesman PJ Crowley told reporters on Tuesday that Washington had asked China for more details on the deal.

"We have asked China to clarify the details of its sale of additional nuclear reactors to Pakistan. This appears to extend beyond cooperation that was grand-fathered when China was approved for membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group," he said.

"We believe that such cooperation would require a specific exemption approved by consensus of the Nuclear Suppliers Group," Crowley said.

The United States was expected to oppose the China-Pakistan deal next week at a meeting of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.

The 46-nation group controls trade in "dual-use" nuclear fuel, materials and technology to ensure they are applied only to civilian nuclear energy programmes and not diverted into clandestine nuclear weapons work. 

The Washington Post reported that China had suggested that the sale was grand-fathered from before it joined the NSG in 2004, because it was completing work on two earlier reactors for Pakistan at the time.