China says it seizes metals bound for NKorea
July 28, 2009 by GILLIAN WONG
BEIJING – Chinese customs authorities have seized a stash of vanadium, a strategic metal used to strengthen steel, hidden in fruit boxes on a truck bound for North Korea, an official said Tuesday.
Vanadium has defense and nuclear applications — alloys with vanadium are used in missile casings — but it was not clear what the stash would be used for.
foreign affairs, wmd, scandal, news