WASHINGTON (AP) -- A company owned by the Chinese government has pleaded guilty for conspiring to violate nuclear export restrictions on Pakistan and agreed to pay $2 million in fines.
The China Nuclear Industry Huaxing (Wa-ZING) Construction Co., pleaded guilty Monday and received a $2 million criminal fine — half of which won't have to be paid if the company meets the conditions of a five-year probation. In a separate agreement with the Commerce Department, the company agreed to a $1 million fine and to be audited to ensure compliance with export laws.
Huaxing supplied U.S.-manufactured nuclear coatings for a nuclear power plant the company was building in Pakistan. Court documents showed Huaxing used a distributor in China to evade U.S. export law, by concealing that the destination was the Pakistani nuclear plant.
