Nuclear Power Not for Sale

The German Government will prevent the sale of a Siemen's nuclear plant to China, in spite of Chancellor Gerhard Schroder's indication on a visit to the People's Republic in December that the deal would be approved.

According to sources, the decision to reject the sale has been taken internally in order to avoid a government crisis within the coalition of Chancellor's Social Democrats and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer's Greens.

A spokesman for the German Government has meanwhile declared that "no decision has yet been taken", adding that "the sale is still being studied" by the Government."