China will upgrade weapons technology if EU lifts arms embargo
Posted: 15 December 2004 1047 hrs
BEIJING: China is ratcheting up pressure for the lifting of its EU arms embargo to remove the stigma of sanctions but also because it needs the technology to upgrade its existing systems, analysts say.
During the Sino-European summit this month in the Hague, Europe refused to lift the 15-year-old ban but indicated that it could do so within six months if member states could agree on a code of conduct on weapons sales.
China has repeatedly denied any interest in acquiring European weapon systems, arguing instead that the embargo was political discrimination and an expression of Europe's refusal to deal with China on an equal basis.
"To demand the lifting of arms sales embargo does not mean that China would like to buy advanced weapons from Europe," Premier Wen Jiabao told journalists at the summit.
"Rather, it is aimed to oppose political discrimination against China," he said.
The embargo, imposed following Beijing's bloody quelling of the 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests, did not conform to improving Sino-EU relations nor to the stated hopes by both sides to build a "strategic partnership," Wen said.
Analysts said Wen was choosing his words carefully.
"China is doing what governments and politicians always do. They are playing with semantics," Robert Karniol, Asia specialist for Jane's Defense Weekly, told AFP.
"When they say they don't want any weapons, they are talking about things that actually shoot.
"China has not been interested in European weapons platforms, and to a lesser extent weapons systems. What they are looking at are sub-systems, like radars and sonars."
There is plenty of dual-use technology and other military hardware, including engines, naval systems, avionics, radars, sonars and command and control systems, that China would like if the embargo were lifted, he said.
"If China could get the EU arms embargo lifted, they will bring pressure to Russia, which also has some restrictions on its arms sales and technology transfers to China," said Arthur Ding, a specialist on China's People's Liberation Army at Taiwan's Institute of International Relations.
"If the EU lifts its embargo, that could pressure Russia to lift its restrictions."
Purchases of European technology could also be used to upgrade China's existing Russian weapons systems, he said.
With Europe and the United States maintaining arms and high technology sanctions on China, Russia has been China's main arms supplier since 1989.
It has sold its neighbour billions of dollars worth of advanced fighter jets, advanced destroyers, submarines and other weapons systems.
"Even if the embargo is lifted, China might not buy a lot of arms from Europe because its main goal is to build up its own technology," Ding said.
"China's emphasis is on technology transfer to build up their own capabilities."
This means that China could be satisfied with just procuring a few weapons systems or sub-systems in order to study the technology and see if it could be reproduced, he said.
Despite the embargo, China has still been able to procure weapons and weapons technology from Europe in recent years.
This includes helicopters and missiles from France, advanced radars from Britain and diesel engines for their submarines from other European manufacturers, Ding said.
European press reports said that China procured some 280 million dollars of weapons-related technology from Europe in 2002 alone, with half the sales coming from France.
Even the United States, which has been one of the most vocal opponents of lifting the EU embargo, has managed to sell weapons and weapons-related hardware to China despite its own sanctions, Jane's Karniol said.
"The US managed to find a way to get around its own sanctions on China during the last decade and sold jet engines for China's J-8 trainer/light attack aircraft," Karniol said.
"China then turned around and sold the planes to Myanmar and Pakistan, both of which are sanctioned by the United States. So if you really want to find a way to get around these sanctions, you can find a way." - AFP
The Russian and Chinese armed forces will act as one to maintain stability in the region through joint efforts.
-Am
FIRST RUSSIAN-CHINESE MILITARY EXERCISE TO BE HELD IN CHINA
2004-12-16 14:00 MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian-Chinese military exercise to be held in China in 2005 will emphasise establishing the interoperability between the two militaries, a ranking Russian Defence Ministry official told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
"It is going to be a pure military exercise - a combined joint exercise, in which various branches and services are going to participate," the official said.
RIA Novosti's source noted that the war game was not planned to be conducted in the vicinity of any country China borders and the final scenario was yet to be completed.
"We are going to start planning. It will be no cakewalk," the source said.
Agreement on the upcoming exercise was reached during Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov's visit to China on December 12-15.
"We have agreed that there will be the first large-scale exercise conducted on Chinese soil in 2005 by the militaries of the two countries," Ivanov said.
Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan, in his turn, noted that the friendly relations between the Russian and Chinese armed forces were not designed to the detriment of other nations.
"We aim at develop our forces and maintain stability in the region through joint efforts," he said.
Russian company to supply aircraft engines to China
16 December 2004 14:57
The Moscow-based Salyut engineering production enterprise has signed a 900m-dollar contract on delivering about 250 aircraft engines to China in the next six years. The Salyut press-service told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday [15 December] that the Russian-Chinese intergovernmental commission on military technical cooperation had recently completed a meeting in Beijing. "For instance, it has coordinated final details of the 900m-dollar contract on delivering 250 AL-31FN aircraft engines, produced by Salyut, to be mounted on the Chinese J-10 light fighter in the next six year," a press-service official said. The J-10 is a Chinese version of the Israeli Lavi fighter, launched into mass production in 2002. According to Salyut Director General Yuriy Yeliseyev, in addition to signing the contract on delivering engines for J-10 fighters, the Chinese side has also expressed its interest in procuring upgraded AL-31F engines, manufactured by Salyut for Su-family fighters, for a total of 1.2-1.4bn dollars. The future cooperation is expected to last for the next six years, the press service official said.
Source: Interfax-AVN military news agency web site, Moscow BBC Monitoring
Note: U.S. dominance of skies may wane The U.S.-India joint exercise, “Cope India,” took place in February near Gwalior in central, India. It pitted some F-15C Eagle fighters from the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, in mock combat against Indian MiG, Sukhoi and Mirage fighters.
The F-15Cs are the Air Force’s primary air superiority aircraft. The Indian fighters, of Russian and French design, are the type of planes U.S. fighters would most likely face in any overseas conflict.
Hornburg, speaking to reporters, called the results of the exercise “a wake-up call” in some respects, but he declined to provide details, other than to suggest the Indian air force scored several unexpected successes against the American planes.
Better Russian fighters like the SU-30, and a new generation of surface-to-air missiles mean that U.S. dominance could be ending, said Loren Thompson, who follows military issues for the Lexington Institute, a Washington think tank. #msg-3411126
-Am
Russia to sell more fighter jets to China
AP , MOSCOW Sunday, Dec 26, 2004,Page 1
Russia plans to sell a host of new military jet fighters and transport planes to China next year, arms export officials said on Friday, and foreign sales of Russian weaponry and equipment could exceed US$5 billion for the year. Yury Krylov, who heads the air force division of the state agency Rosoboronexport, said that his agency and the Chinese Air Force expect to sign several new contracts for Su-30MK2 multifunctional jet fighters, according to the Interfax news agency.
Pre-contract work on supplying Il-76 Candid military transports and Il-78 Midas aerial tankers were almost finished as well, he said.
"We are planning to conclude a series of new contracts, in particular, for the supplies of SU-30MK2 planes to the Chinese Air Force," Krylov was quoted as saying by Interfax.
Defense analysts say Su-30s cost about US$35 million each. India bought several dozen Su-30MK1 jets in the late 1990s for US$28 million each.
China has become the Russian arms industry's No. 1 customer, and is expected to buy weapons worth some US$2 billion this year to modernize its arsenal and back up frequent threats to invade Taiwan.
Krylov also said Russia is also considering continuing to supply parts for Su-27SK Flanker jets to China, where they could be assembled under license.
The Su-27 -- which is a similar twin-engine design to the Su-30 -- has been in service since 1985, and also goes by the NATO code name "Flanker."
Its speed and maneuverability made it one of the key planes in the former Soviet air force, and it resembles the US F-15 Eagle fighter with two rear stabilizers and twin engines.
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