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22 March 2004 - Germany's Green Party, a member of the ruling coalition, has blocked the sale of a nuclear plant to China by Siemens AG, even after the deal was approved by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, Der Speigel magazine will report in its Monday edition.
According to an advance copy of the magazine obtained by Agence France-Presse, Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, the head of the Green Party in the ruling coalition, warned Schroeder the Greens would not accept the sale.
Schroeder announced the deal between Beijing and Siemens during a trip to China in December. Beijing also offered guarantees that the facility would only be for civilian use, dismissing concerns the facility could be used to develop weapons.
Der Spiegel reported that the decision to reject the sale was made internally to avoid a crisis within the coalition between Schroeder's Social Democrats and its junior partner, the Greens.
A German government spokesman however said "no decision has yet been taken" and that the government "was continuing to study the sale."
The plutonium plant at Hanau, western Germany, was built by Siemens in 1991 but never went into production, although the technical equipment remains on site.
It is estimated to be worth about €50m today, although Siemens has never commented on the figure.
China's nuclear power industry, although only providing a small percentage of its overall energy, is expected to be one of the world's fastest growing in the coming years.
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