FEATURE ARTICLE

May 2005

Vying for Defense Dollars

China's Arms Makers Expand International Marketing Efforts

By Roxana Tiron

The People’s Republic of China not only is producing a wide array of weapons systems for its own forces, but also is exporting versions of its military hardware to other nations under the wary eye of the United States.

In the post Cold War era, countries are a lot more commercially oriented and do not sell solely to their ideological peers, explained David Isenberg, an arms control analyst with the British American Security Information Council in Washington, D.C.

“They are in it to make a buck and make a profit,” Isenberg said. Despite intense competition in the international arms market, China manages to sell technologies that are less sophisticated than what other Western countries have to offer, Isenberg said, especially when it comes to systems integration.

Nevertheless, certain countries look favorably upon China’s conventional weapons exports because “they are good enough,” said Isenberg. The technology “is reasonably effective; it is reasonably easy to operate,” he added. A lot of the buyers do not have the need for sophisticated technologies or can’t afford Western-exported technology, so Chinese equipment “might look pretty good to them,” he explained.

Chinese companies sometimes are at a disadvantage when striking deals, because unlike Western firms, they cannot offer “political sweeteners” and offset deals to customers, said Isenberg.

On the black list for arms proliferation, China in recent years has made efforts to comply with most arms control regimes especially those relating to nuclear, biological and chemical material, according to Isenberg.

While China has taken steps to regulate its arms manufacturers, it still has a long way to go, said Matt Schroeder, an analyst for the Federation of American Scientists, in an article entitled “Of Red Parakeets and Dragon Fire: The Nonproliferation Case for Maintaining E.U. Arms Embargo on China.” A decision by the European Union to lift a 15-year old arms embargo to China has raised strong opposition in the United States. After clashes with the United States and China’s adoption of a law to invade the island of Taiwan should it seek independence from the mainland, the E.U. increasingly has grown hesitant of lifting the controversial embargo.

In 1996, the U.S. intelligence community tagged China as the most significant supplier of weapons of mass destruction-related goods and technologies to foreign countries. While Beijing’s efforts to stem these efforts have yielded some results, Chinese firms continue to engage in “problematic” transfers, Schroeder wrote.

One of these companies, state-controlled China North Industries Corporation, came under fire in 1996 for the shipment of 2,000 fully automatic Chinese AK-47s to the Unites States, and offers of 60mm mortar rocket launchers to U.S. street gangs.

Norinco also sold missile technology to Iran, according to the U.S. State Department. In May 2003, the Bush administration slapped a two-year ban on Norinco imports, said Schroeder. The ban cost the company $100 million a year in lost U.S. sales. Even though Norinco has been described as a serial proliferator by the State Department, the Chinese government has taken no action to halt activities, Schroeder said.

Since its establishment in 1980, one of Norinco’s main focuses has been exporting military technology. Norinco basically is the export arm of the republic’s Ministry of Ordnance Industry. Norinco provides everything ranging from armored vehicles, air defense systems and assault weapons.

A new 6x6 19-ton armored vehicle, for example, has a turret armed with a 105 mm rifle that can fire NATO or Chinese ammunition. It has a 7.62 mm machine gun and a 12.7 mm anti-aircraft gun.

Norinco also developed a weapons suite mounted on an 8x8 truck to protect airfields, logistics centers and command posts. The vehicle has a remote-controlled turret at the rear. The turret is armed with a 30 mm, seven-barrel cannon. The cannon can fire 4,000 rounds a minute. The ammunition is either armor-piercing or high-explosive. The cannon has a range of 3,000 meters.

Among the company’s latest products is an armored personnel carrier, called Type 89, equipped with advanced sensors for day and night operations. The main armament is a 25 mm cannon fitted on the roof of the one-man turret. It can be used for ground and anti-aircraft defense. One 7.62 mm machine gun and four smoke grenade dischargers serve as secondary armaments.

Meanwhile, China boasts third place in the world in shipbuilding, after Korea and Japan. Most of the ships employed by the Chinese navy have been built by China Shipbuilding and Trading Company.

CSTC, according to company information, makes submarines, surface warships and auxiliary vessels. The ships supplied by CSTC can be built based on Chinese designs, or can be constructed with foreign technologies and equipment.

The company has expertise in building missile corvettes and patrol boats, as well as fast missile boats. The shipyard currently is working on an offshore patrol vessel.

CSTC ships and weapon systems have been purchased by Algeria, Pakistan, Thailand, Tunisia, Mauritania and Egypt, said a company official. “They do not have the same capabilities,” he said. “We work on the specification of our clients.”

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