WASHINGTON — A Defense Department report has identified Sudan as the second leading
military client of China.
The report listed Pakistan and Sudan as the two top
military customers of Beijing. They said Sudan received a significant
portion of the nearly $7 billion worth of Chinese defense exports from 2003
through 2007.
"Between 2004 and 2006, China made up an average of 90 percent of small
arms sales to Sudan," the report, titled "Military Power of the People's
Republic of China 2009," said.
China has acknowledged its military relationship with the Khartoum
regime. Beijing has insisted that its military exports were not meant for
the war-torn province of Darfour.
"China sells arms to Sudan despite the passage of UN Security Council
resolutions 1556 [2004] and 1591 [2005], both of which call for the
prevention of the transfer of arms to Darfour," the report said.
"The PRC
argues that arms sales constitute part of normal commercial relations, and
that the arms supplied by Chinese companies were not meant for use in Darfour."
The report said Iran has also been a leading Middle East client of
China.
Some of the Chinese weapons supplied to Iran were said to have been
transferred to insurgency groups in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"With other countries of strategic importance to China, such as Iran and
Sudan, arms sales and other security assistance deepen developing ties and
balance PRC energy imports," the report said.
