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China is celebrating and making history by hosting World's precious Olympic that would be concluded next weekend. However, we must not forget millions around the would who are suffering due to Chinese arms along with diplomatic and economic support to brutal regimes. Please see a small collection of reports below on how China is selling arms to right abusers and fueling human sufferings around the world: Burma, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka and North Korea.

Obviously, the suffering of the 50 million plus people in Burma is an outstanding example of abuse fueled by Chinese arms. Peace and freedom that people have been longing for 46 years can not be restored in Burma unless China reverses its irresponsible policies. China must act responsibly and help the people of Burma, not the dictators there -- no more China's military, economic and diplomatic backing to the dictators.

Therefore, help us highlight the China's role and irresponsible policies in enabling the Burma's brutal dictatorship by joining a protest rally on the Eve of Olympic Closing at the Chinese Consulate from 2-4 pm on Saturday August 23 at 450 Laguna St, San Francisco. Among others, an exhibit on Beijing Olympic through the eye of Local Burmese Artists on behalf of silenced Burmese people under the Burmese regime will be presented (For more information, please visit: www.badasf.org.)

Meantime, please join daily actions by Bay Area Tibetans during the Olympic. Their schedule can be viewed here: http://www.sfteamtibet.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=48&Itemid=49.

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Geopolitical strategies, arms transfers, solutions to military logistics problems and communication bases, and Burma as a political and military ally are all important factors in Chinese policy toward Burma. Economic relations are increasingly important, but in volume their importance to China lags behind that of other ASEAN states of similar size. (This was from an 2004 Report by

; but the Trade has exploded since.)
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1. China continues to supply Burma with military equipment
2. Buyers line up for China's arms
3. Report: China selling arms to rights abusers
4. Arms Sales and other Support to Abusive Regimes: Sudan, Burma, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, North Korea
5. Why China Blocks Sanctions on Iran, Sudan, Burma
6. HRW: Burma: Security Council Should Impose Arms Embargo
(Weapons Sales by India, China and Russia Fuel Abuses, Strengthen Military Rule )
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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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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".

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.

There are few multilateral controls on conventional weapons and China does not operate under the same restraints as most democratic countries, where arms deals tend to be much more transparent and subject to public scrutiny, say analysts.

China's official news agency carried a denial of Amnesty's charges. Chinese specialists contacted by the BBC for this article declined to comment. One simply said he wanted "no connection" with Amnesty International.

But China is keen to be viewed as a responsible world power. And while the US and other governments are concerned about its rising military spending, rights activists are hoping it will soon move to the higher, more strictly monitored end of the arms market - just as it is already doing in other areas, from clothing to computers.
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Report: China selling arms to rights abusers

China is quickly becoming one of the world’s largest, most secretive and irresponsible arms exporters, according to a new report issued today by Amnesty International. And Cummins Inc., a manufacturer of diesel engines and related technologies based in Columbus, Ind., may not be helping the situation.

China: Sustaining Conflict and Human Rights Abuses documents how Chinese weapons have helped sustain brutal conflicts, criminal violence and other grave human rights violations in countries such as Sudan, Nepal, Myanmar and South Africa. It also reveals the possible involvement of Western companies in the manufacture of some of this military equipment. According to the report, more than 200 Chinese military trucks--typically fitted with Cummins diesel engines--were shipped to Sudan in August 2005. According to Amnesty International and other human rights monitors, military trucks were used throughout the massacres in 2004 to transport both Sudanese military and Janjawid militia personnel, and in some cases to deliver people for extrajudicial execution.

"Amnesty International calls on Cummins Inc. to determine whether its engines have been fitted into Chinese military trucks and sent to Sudan and Myanmar," said Amnesty International USA Executive Director Larry Cox. "U.S. companies must ensure they are not complicit in human rights violations facilitated by Chinese military equipment."

According to a U.N. investigation in August 2005, 212 Chinese military trucks model EQ2100E6D had been supplied to Sudan. Hubei Dong Feng Motor Industry Import & Export Co., the company that exports these military trucks, has reported that this same model is powered by a Cummins diesel engine.

Amnesty International is also concerned by regular Chinese military shipments to Myanmar, including the supply in August 2005 of 400 military trucks to the Burmese army despite its involvement in the torture, killing and forced eviction of hundreds of thousands of civilians. AI is also concerned that military trucks sent to Myanmar may be fitted with U.S. engines, although, unlike the case of Sudan, it is unclear what specific truck models were shipped to the country.

China’s arms exports, estimated to be in excess of $2 billion per year, often involve the exchange of weapons for raw materials to fuel the country’s rapid economic growth. But it is a trade shrouded in secrecy; Beijing does not publish any information about arms transfers abroad and hasn’t submitted any data to the U.N. Register on Conventional Arms in the last eight years.

"China has used the phrase 'cautious and responsible' to describe its arms export licensing, however its record of trading arms in conflict-ridden countries like Sudan and Myanmar show their actions are anything but," said Colby Goodman, Advocacy Associate on AIUSA’s Control Arms Campaign. "China should join other major exporting powers and agree to multilateral agreements to prohibit arms exports to places where they'll likely be used for grave human rights violations."

In addition to information about Chinese arms sales to Myanmar and Sudan, the report details:

•Chinese military exports to Nepal in 2005 and early 2006, including a deal to supply nearly 25,000 Chinese-made rifles and 18,000 grenades to Nepalese security forces, who were at the time involved in the brutal repression of thousands of civilian demonstrators; and •An increasingly illicit trade in Chinese-made Norinco pistols in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand and particularly South Africa, where they are commonly used for robbery, rape and other crimes.

Amnesty International is calling on China to report annually and publicly on all arms export licenses and deliveries and to support strict export guidelines on the international transfer of arms at an upcoming review conference on the program of action to combat the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons from June 26 to July 7. Just this week, AI members in Hong Kong launched a campaign to encourage their government to become more responsible arms exporters.

Arms Sales and other Support to Abusive Regimes: Sudan, Burma, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, North Korea

The governments of these four countries, among the world's most repressive, are responsible for mass atrocity crimes against their people. They are routinely criticized and marginalized by the international community for their atrocious patterns of abuse.

Yet China maintains close ties to these regimes, insisting that their human rights abuses are “internal affairs.”

China continues to sell arms to these states, even when those arms are used by state forces in carrying out mass atrocities.

China also continues to make new investments in these countries that benefit the ruling elite far more than the general population.

What's more, China shields its trading partners from international pressure, and refuses to use the full extent of its own influence to curb their abuses.

To truly be seen as a responsible world power, China must reverse its actions and policies that support abusive regimes.

Click here to join Human Rights First in telling China to Stop Arms Sales to Sudan

Click here to download a pdf guide to China and Mass Atrocities worldwide

China's interest: Natural resources; strategic location (on the Bay of Bengal)

A member of the government-supported militia accused of mass murder, rape and destruction in Darfur sales to China (HRF)

Country: Sudan

A child sitting in rubble left by the destruction of his home during Operation Murambatsvina (Sokwanele)

President Mahinda Rajapaksa and President Hu Jintao of China in Sri Lanka in 2007 (Columbo Page)

China's interest: Natural resources, strategic location (on the Indian Ocean)

China's interest: Natural resources, fear of the collapse of a neighboring state

When western firms shy away from investing in countries where mass atrocities are occurring, it's not purely out of concern for human rights. These countries are highly unstable investing environments, and ventures there by Chinese state-owned firms show the extraordinary level of risk they are willing to take in the pursuit of natural resources.

Nowhere is this illustrated more clearly than in Somalia. Chinese firms have entered into agreements for oil exploration in two regions of Somalia, one of the world's most fragile states. The Somaliland and Puntland regions have been more secure than the rest of Somalia in recent years, but their future is far from certain and the region as a whole remains wracked by violence. As if to prove the point, in January 2008, Islamic insurgents bombed two Ethiopian restaurants in the port of Bosasso in Puntland, killing 20 people. What's more, Somalia does not yet have a national oil law, so Chinese investments at this point in time may be subject to later revision under new law

It is unlikely that Somalia will see stability any time soon, therefore China's oil development may prove at best rash and at worst, a potent new addition to an already volatile mix of partnerships with governments committing mass atrocities.

Regime: Transitional Federal Government under President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed

The People's Republic of China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the U.N. Security Council and one of the world's prolific arms producers, continues to remain a major stumbling block to U.S. efforts to impose economic and military sanctions on three countries: Sudan, Burma (Myanmar) and Iran.

"The reasons are obvious," says a Southeast Asian diplomat who closely monitors the politics in the region. "Just as much as the United States and other Western powers protect their own political and military interests worldwide, so does China." With the threat of its veto power, China has expressed strong reservations over recent U.S. and Western attempts to either penalise or impose sanctions against Sudan, Burma and Iran for various political reasons. But the 15-member Security Council has been unable to take any action against any of the three countries because of opposition from China or Russia -- or both.

And according to a new report released by the London-based Amnesty International (AI), China is a key arms supplier to countries such as Sudan, Burma and Nepal, described as human rights violators. Iran is also a longtime recipient of Chinese weapons, including Shenyang fighter planes, T-59 battle tanks, HY-2 Silkworm surface- to-surface missiles and rocket launchers. China has strong economic interests in both Sudan and Iran which, in turn, are oil suppliers. "China's arms exports, estimated to be in excess of one billion dollars a year often involve the exchange of weapons for raw materials to fuel the country's rapid economic growth," says the AI study.

But it is a trade shrouded in secrecy, the study points out, because Beijing does not publish any information about arms transfers abroad and hasn't submitted any data to the U.N.'s annual Register on Conventional Arms in the last eight years. "As a major arms exporter and a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China should live up to its obligations under international law," says Helen Hughes, Amnesty International's arms control researcher. "China is the only major arms exporting power that has not signed up to any multilateral agreements with criteria to prevent arms exports likely to be used for serious human rights violations," she said in a statement released here.

Frida Berrigan, senior research associate at the New York-based World Policy Institute's Arms Trade Resource Centre, says that China seems to be the largest and most flagrant violator of international norms on arms transfers but it is not a problem one country can hope to solve on its own. "In this globalised world where China's military trucks are powered by U.S. engines and U.S. fighter plans might have components made in Israel or South Korea, arms transfers to countries in conflict or with records of egregious human right abuses cannot be blamed on one country alone," Berrigan told IPS.

The only real solution, she pointed out, is to manufacture fewer arms and sell to fewer nations. "Unfortunately, all signs point toward the trend going in the opposite direction -- towards greater arms proliferation, and more sophisticated tools for waging war and repressing rights," Berrigan added.

According to the AI study, more than 200 Chinese military trucks -- normally fitted with U.S. Cummins diesel engines -- were shipped to Sudan last August, despite a U.S. arms embargo on both countries, and the involvement of similar vehicles in the killing and abduction of civilians in the politically-troubled Darfur. The study, titled "China: Sustaining Conflict and Human Rights Abuses", also cites regular Chinese military shipments to Myanmar, including the supply in August 2005 of 400 military trucks to the Burmese army despite its involvement in the torture, killing and forced eviction of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Chinese military exports to Nepal in 2005 and early 2006, including a deal to supply nearly 25,000 Chinese-made rifles and 18,000 grenades to Nepalese security forces, were also badly timed, according to the AI report, because it was delivered at a time when "Nepal was involved in the brutal repression of thousands of civilian demonstrators."

China is also complicit in an increasingly illicit trade in Chinese-made Norinco pistols in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, and particularly South Africa, where they are commonly used for robbery, rape and other crimes. The report also indicates how Chinese weapons have helped sustain brutal conflicts, criminal violence and grave human rights violations in countries such as Sudan, Nepal, Myanmar and South Africa. But it also reveals the possible involvement of Western companies in the manufacture of some of these weapons.

"China describes its approach to arms export licensing as 'cautious and responsible', yet the reality couldn't be further from the truth," said Hughes of Amnesty International. "They must introduce effective laws and regulations banning all arms transfers that could be used for serious human rights violations or breaches in international humanitarian law," she added. Hughes said that Amnesty International is also calling on China to report annually and publicly on all arms export licences and deliveries and to support a tough, comprehensive and enforceable international arms trade treaty.

Ann-Louise Colgan, director for policy analysis and communications at Washington-based Africa Action, says that both Russia and China continue to oppose sanctions, for their own economic and political interests. "China is the single largest investor in the oil industry in Sudan, and Russia also has interests in continuing to sell weapons and other military equipment to the Khartoum regime," she added.

But neither China nor Russia wishes to antagonise the Government of Sudan, and neither one wishes to set a precedent for international intervention (or even punitive action) based on human rights concerns because of their own internal repression of ethnic communities, Colgan told IPS.
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Burma: Security Council Should Impose Arms Embargo

Weapons Sales by India, China and Russia Fuel Abuses, Strengthen Military Rule

(New York, October 10, 2007) – The United Nations Security Council should impose and enforce a mandatory arms embargo on Burma because of continuing massive violations of human rights, Human Rights Watch said today. India, China, Russia, and other nations are supplying Burma with weapons that the military uses to commit human rights abuses and to bolster its ability to maintain power.

It’s time for the Security Council to end all sales and transfers of arms to a government that uses repression and fear to hang onto power. Instead of continuing to protect Burma’s abusive generals, China and Russia should join other Security Council members to cut off the instruments of repression.

Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Related Material

India: Military Aid to Burma Fuels Abuses
Press Release, December 7, 2006

More of Human Rights Watch’s recent reporting on Burma
Country Page

Burma: Foreign Investment Finances Regime
Press Release, October 2, 2007

UN: Human Rights Council Takes Important First Step on Burma
Press Release, September 28, 2007

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“It’s time for the Security Council to end all sales and transfers of arms to a government that uses repression and fear to hang onto power,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Instead of continuing to protect Burma’s abusive generals, China and Russia should join other Security Council members to cut off the instruments of repression.”

India appears to be one of the two main suppliers of advanced modern arms to the Burmese military. Earlier this year, India sold Burma two BN-2 Defender maritime surveillance aircraft that India had bought from the United Kingdom in the 1980s. The aircraft were delivered in August despite the British government’s objections that they were being supplied to a country under a European Union arms embargo. Later this year, India sold T-55 tanks and 105mm artillery pieces to the Burmese military. As it wages war against ethnic insurgents, the military routinely uses weapons such as artillery and mortars in conflict areas to destroy villages and exact retributions against civilian settlements.

India is currently preparing to send Burma aircraft, artillery, armored personnel carriers, tanks, ships, and a host of small arms in the next year. Perhaps most alarming, India has offered to sell newly developed Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) to Burma, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautical Limited (HAL). These helicopters, if delivered, would give the Burmese military a sophisticated weapon platform to fire rockets and guns, which could be used with devastating effect against political demonstrations in urban areas or rural villagers.

According to a recent report from Saferworld and Amnesty International, the Advanced Light Helicopters use superior European rockets and guns, as well as powerful French engines. Human Rights Watch urged the manufacturers and countries where these products are made to call on the Indian government to end sales to Burma and to ensure proper monitoring and implementation of end-use agreements.

“India’s close relationship with the Burmese military is a discredit to the ‘world’s largest democracy,’” said Adams. “The Indian authorities should be leading the efforts to end the supply of arms being used against the democracy movement in Burma.”

China is the other main arms supplier. It has supplied Burma with advanced helicopter gunships, arms production technology, and support equipment such as trucks and vehicles. Chinese-manufactured Mi-8 helicopter gunships have been photographed supporting Burmese military actions in eastern Burma where Burmese troops have committed numerous war crimes against civilians and massive displacement in its attacks on ethnic minority separatist groups. Beijing has also supplied small arms, including mortars, landmines, and assault rifles, as well as assistance in setting up an indigenous small-arms production capability. China has supplied a vast array of advanced military hardware to Burma, including fighter planes, naval vessels and tanks, and other infantry support weapons.

“China says it wants stability and a peaceful solution to the crisis in Burma,” said Adams. “But as long as Beijing continues to arm the Burmese military and give it political cover, the situation in Burma will remain violently unstable.”

Russia is also a noted supplier of arms to Burma, which includes a deal for MiG-29 fighter planes in 2002.

South Korean companies including Daewoo International Corporation and several others have been accused of illegally boosting the capacity of the Burmese army to produce weaponry. Daewoo reportedly supplied technology and equipment to build a factory to produce mortar rounds near the town of Prome, leading to South Korean investigations and indictments against company officials.

North Korea has supplied truck-borne multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and artillery pieces to Burma. North Korean engineers have also been contracted to build an underground tunnel complex at the new national capital at Nay Pyi Daw in central Burma, where the military leadership is based.

Burma has also reportedly received weapons from Israel. In 2005, Israel was reported to have sold 150 Brazilian EE-9 Cascavels light tanks to Burma.

Human Rights Watch said that an arms embargo should also include a ban against training the Burmese military, paramilitary, and police forces, all of which have been used to crush the pro-democracy movement in Burma. According to information received by Human Rights Watch, there are hundreds of Burmese defense forces officers being trained in military academies in Russia on nuclear physics, artillery techniques, and computer technology. Exiled Burmese media groups report that cyber-warfare activities that hacked their sites in the past week originated in Moscow. Russia and the Ukraine also have a number of technical staff based in Burma to train Burmese air force and army personnel. Australia has included Burmese police and military officers in its counterterrorism training workshops at centers in Indonesia.

Other nations involved in training the Burmese military include China, which continues to train fighter pilots following the sale of F-7 Airguard fighter planes in the 1990s. The recent sales of advance weaponry from India will also require training assistance. India has also offered Special Forces training to Burmese military units to aid joint operations along the shared border along northeast India and western Burma.

“The nations of the world are arming and training the Burmese military at the same time that they condemn Burma’s human rights violations,” Adams said. “These countries should back up their rhetoric with actions to avoid complicity in attacks on the Burmese people.”

The Burmese spend an estimated 40 percent of the government budget on the military, while combined health and education expenditure is among the lowest in Asia. Military-run hospitals and schools are the best in the country, while civilian hospitals are poorly funded and cannot respond to the widespread health crisis in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. While Burma’s people are among the poorest in the region, senior military officials live lavish lifestyles. Instead of working to improve the lives of its people, the military also routinely seizes land from civilians for defense establishments and frontline bases, using forced labor in construction.

“The world should insist that the Burmese government address the country’s massive poverty and build up its health and education infrastructure,” said Adams. “Instead, many countries are draining Burma of its limited resources through military sales, profiting handsomely while many Burmese struggle to put food on the table.”

China continues to supply Burma with military equipment

Chinese FAW trucks in Ruili (Sino-Burmese frontier)

The LIFAN model. Four-hundred and fifty have been delivered since December

Arms Sales and other Support to Abusive Regimes: Sudan, Burma, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, North Korea

Why China Blocks Sanctions on Iran, Sudan, Burma

By Thalif Deen

Burma: Security Council Should Impose Arms Embargo

Weapons Sales by India, China and Russia Fuel Abuses, Strengthen Military Rule