ABU DHABI Ñ Beijing has held three high-level defense and military
talks with three Arab countries on one week in what diplomatic sources said was a
Chinese effort to renew weapons sales and cooperation with allies in the
Middle East.
China has held talks with Kuwait, Sudan and Syria over the last week. In
Damascus, a high-level Chinese military delegation discussed a series of
projects and training with Syrian military and defense chiefs.
A CIA report released in November asserted that China was a leading
supplier of missile and weapons of mass destruction technology to Syria. The
report said Beijing has been helping Damascus in developing solid-fuel
missile technology.
The sources said Chinese arms sales in the Middle East has declined sharply over the
last two years, Middle East Newsline reported.
In Khartoum, China and Sudan discussed a range of weapons projects
during the visit by Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan, diplomatic
sources in Khartoum said. They said Friday's talks covered a range of
Sudanese options for payment, including Chinese energy projects in Sudan.
China has been cited as a leading military supplier to Khartoum. A
report by the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Beijing has sold
aircraft, artillery and other platforms to Sudan's military.
At the same time, Kuwaiti Defense Minister Jaber Mubarak Al Sabah
completed a week-long visit to Beijing to discuss a range of Chinese
military sales to the sheikdom. China has begun to deliver advanced 155 mm
artillery for a second Kuwaiti artillery brigade.
"The two countries have signed 13 different agreements, the most
important ¹of which is the security and military cooperation agreement and
the investment ¹¹agreement," the Kuwaiti ambassador to Beijing, Faisal Al
Ghais, said.
Kuwaiti sources said the two countries completed a schedule of defense
and military cooperation in 2004. They said Beijing and Kuwait also agreed
to establish a joint panel to activate a memorandum of understanding signed
by Kuwait and China in 1995.
