Posted on 04/20/2012 4:09:51 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
April 20, 2012
Panetta: China Assisted North Korea Missile Program
Shannon Van Sant | Beijing
 A Chinese border policeman displays confiscated vanadium bound for North Korea at a checkpoint in Dandong, Liaoning province. Chinese border police have seized 70 kg (154 lb) of the strategic metal vanadium bound for North Korea, foiling an attempt to smuggle a material used to make missile parts, FILE July 24, 2009. |
China has recently joined with other countries in condemning North Korea for a failed missile launch earlier this month. It was a rare public rebuke of its internationally isolated ally, leading many to closely scrutinize whether Beijing’s policies toward Pyongyang are shifting.
This week U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said China has provided some assistance to North Korea’s missile program, possibly violating U.N. sanctions on the country.
Beijing has denied the allegations, but Panetta says that China must do more to bring North Korea to the negotiating table.
(Excerpt) Read more at voanews.com ...
Abetting NK in a sneaky way is going to have a blowback.
P!
Prease ferrows, what CHICOM say in newspapa and what CHICOM mean, and what CHICOM do is arways inscrutaber to us lound-eyed devils. Not samee samee.
Suffice it to say that the NKs do nothing that might surprise their CHICOM masters. When the CHICOM pretend to get tough with them, is good for PR.
BTW, a great big Charlie Chan Award to Panetta for figuring it out.
Bump
70 kg of Ferrous Vanadium costs about $5,000 on open market ($75/kg.) The world production of Vanadium is 56,000 tons - it is widely used to make high quality steel. Those 70 kg are not even a drop in an ocean. Perhaps a medieval blacksmith would be OK with this quantity to make a hundred swords. But on scale of the country (even NK) it’s insignificant. If we assume 1% of Vanadium in an HSS steel then NK could only make 7 tons of it - or a cube with a side of one yard. What would you do with it? A common steel mill isn’t even designed to work with such tiny volumes. Some alloys need up to 5% of Vanadium.
Loral
Clinton
Duh!
It is just a show. Much more of it was probably smuggled into N. Korea.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.