CHINA - Emerging Arms Suppliers

naz_1969

Buyers line up for China's arms
By Tim Luard

China may have lost its reputation for making low-cost goods, but when it comes to weapons, there is no doubt which end of the market its sights are still set on.

Some of the poorest and most unsavoury regimes on earth, which either cannot afford or are not allowed to buy sophisticated Western arms, are turning to the world's newest superpower to buy guns, leg-irons, anti-riot equipment and armoured vehicles.

Military specialists contacted by the BBC News website have confirmed the main findings of a report issued this week by Amnesty International, which said Chinese arms sales were fuelling conflicts and human rights abuses in countries such as Sudan and Burma.

China has been the Burmese military government's main supplier of weapons - including artillery, trucks, logistical support and communications equipment - ever since the 1990s, according to Tim Huxley, an Asia specialist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.

"Without Chinese arms supplies, the Burmese army would find it impossible to operate," he said.

China has also become a major, and perhaps the largest, supplier of weapons to Sudan, where its sales include fighter aircraft and helicopters, according to analysts.

The key question in Sudan, they say, is to what extent alleged war crimes in Darfur are dependent on these supplies.
China has used the threat of its Security Council veto to stall or dilute UN resolutions on Darfur, saying the situation in Sudan is an internal affair.

While the US maintains partial sanctions against Sudan, China has become the country's biggest trading partner, taking most of its oil exports.

Small scale
While there has been much debate on China's alleged transfer of nuclear or long-range missile technology to countries like Iran, North Korea and Pakistan, little attention has been paid to its routine export of conventional weapons and small arms.
Before it started introducing capitalist-style economic reforms in 1978, China gave arms as free military aid to governments and revolutionary groups seen as supporting its interests.

It's the country of choice when you want to buy cheap and simple weapons - like Kalashnikovs, rocket-propelled grenades and artillery shells -Paul Beaver, defence analyst .

As its new-found economic might has helped extend its reach and influence, arms sales have become an integral part of China's trade links in Asia, Africa and Latin America, according to Amnesty's report.
Some might say this is all part of being a successful capitalist country. China is already flooding the world with its goods of all kinds, so why not arms too?

Many also point out that Chinese arms exports are tiny compared with those of the United States. They are also smaller than those of Russia, France or Britain.

And the value of Chinese arms sales has in fact shrunk in the past 20 years from $2bn a year to about $1bn, mainly due to Russian competition and the poor performance of Chinese weapons in the Iran-Iraq and Gulf Wars in the 1980s and 90s.

'Cheap and simple'
Today, while Western nations tend to sell integrated weapons systems, China produces the kind of weapons they do not make any more, says Paul Beaver, a London-based defence analyst.

"It's the country of choice when you want to buy cheap and simple weapons - like Kalashnikovs, rocket-propelled grenades and artillery shells.

"China's export policy is that it will supply any country and any sovereign government. The problem is that some have arms embargoes on them," he said.

China, like other countries, does have a policy on export controls, but this is usually whatever is in the interests of the government, said Beaver.

While Chinese handguns and security devices such as electric batons are sold in many parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia on a purely commercial basis, China is also known to supply arms at "friendship prices".

It is especially interested in selling to countries with energy supplies. But there are often other strategic factors involved - as in Nepal and Burma, where China is competing for influence with India.

Derek Mitchell of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington says China has used arms sales not only to open new markets and extract natural resources, but also to help provide capital to its defence industry at a time when the military was being forced to give up its own commercial activities.

China's other main aim, he says, is "to demonstrate its credential as a friend of nations in the developing world in ways that can bear fruit in international institutions such as the UN, and that can be leveraged against US power globally".
Government-controlled

He shares Amnesty's view that China often ignores the impact its arms sales can have on the internal affairs of troubled states.
In Nepal, for example, a deal to supply nearly 25,000 Chinese rifles and 18,000 grenades came at a time when the security forces were involved in suppressing thousands of civilian demonstrators. Sometimes China has even provided assistance to both sides in a conflict, as with Eritrea and Ethiopia, added Mitchell.

He dismissed suggestions that the blame lies with Chinese arms companies acting independently.
"One must hold the government responsible because all arms merchants and weapons dealers in China are government-controlled," he said.


Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/asia-pacific/5086416.stm
Published: 2006/06/16 13:04:11 GMT

I wonder if their recent tour of Africa has indeed including business for Arms between China and Africa Countries as well
Definitely.

Western governments have no problems selling arms to regimes unsupported by the local people. Here, they have issue with China selling arms to regimes unsupported by the wests. The height of irony.

And China's foreign reserves has exceed US$ 1 trillion.

naz_1969

Originally posted by Adm_Cheng_Ho at 18-1-2007 12:53 AM
I wonder if their recent tour of Africa has indeed including business for Arms between China and Africa Countries as well
Definitely.

Western governments have no problems selling arms to regi ...

I find that China is playing their games (i.e foreign policy) coutiously , trying not to step on US toes. But we can see that US is not really interested in financing these African Countries. They will give loan , but at high interest. China seems to know what kind of financing required. With 1 Trillion USD reserved , I think China itself already a bank.

I can see China and US coming head to head in years to come , but so far China is picking their interest carefully. The only time recently I notice that China being quite blunt with US is when they are proceeding with their Oil and Gas venture in Iran. Waiting to see what is the outcome of that.

Sephiroth

Not surprising that Atheists could sell weapons which kills people to fulfill their own stomach. After all, that's what animals do. ;)