<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> WorldTribune.com: Mobile Ñ Report: Sudan is No. 2 military client of China

Report: Sudan is No. 2 military client of China

Saturday, April 4, 2009   E-Mail this story   Free Headline Alerts

WASHINGTON Ñ 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.

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