Under the rules of procedure, any committee member is entitled to keep the ‘hold’ in place for up to nine months. By placing a hold, China bought itself some time. In discussions with India, the Chinese claimed that the criteria for listing had to be based on solid evidence, and that the material supplied by the Indian side needed more discussion. In this manner, China was also able to stave off matters coming to a head inside the committee by claiming that they were engaging with India.
