China has been slow to respond to US requests to choke off weapons parts shipments from North Korea to Iran through its territory, according to leaked US diplomatic cables, the Financial Times reported. The details were revealed on the WikiLeaks website and show how widely Washington and Beijing differ on addressing non-proliferation issues. Among a number of dispatches involving China, one cable dated November 3, 2007 and signed by former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, complains that Washington’s repeated requests to halt transports of ballistic missile components from Pyongyang to Tehran through Beijing Airport were met with silence from China. The leaked cables could heighten pressure on Beijing, now that the US, South Korea and other countries are calling on China to rein in Pyongyang after a North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean island last week.