China’s military tech under lens after poor show in conflicts; exports dip

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, April 22

Chinese military technology has come under the scanner, especially over its ineffectiveness during the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Iran conflicts.

Infra buildup in India’s neighbourhood

• China is ramping up military facilities in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. In Bangladesh, the newest addition is the upcoming submarine maintenance base
• In Myanmar, an airstrip on Coco islands — located north of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands — has been extended with Beijing’s assistance

Important technologies of UAVs and missiles Iran used in the April 13 offensive against Israel had Chinese parentage. Almost 99 per cent of the 300 missiles and drones were shot down by Israel with support from US and UK.

From Beijing’s perspective, its military technology has actually been used in a real war scenario. However, the ineffectiveness of Iran’s attack would be watched by several countries planning to buy weapons and military technologies from China.

The Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in its March 10 report, indicated that China’s military exports are dipping.

Sources said to bypass western sanctions, China has resorted to approaching North Korea, which is anyway sanctioned by the West, to route sensitive technologies and weapons to Iran and Russia. China supplied Iran 150-km CSS-8 missiles and is now helping it in the production of anti-ship cruise missiles. Iran is reportedly developing a new 1,500-km missile, ‘Zelzal-3’, based on Chinese technology. The SIPRI report said, “The five largest exporters of arms during the period 2019-2023 were the USA, France, Russia, China and Germany. They accounted for 75 per cent of all arms exports. While the US and French arms exports rose, those from Russia, China and Germany fell,” the report said.

China accounted for 5.8 per cent of total global arms exports in 2019–23. “Its arms exports decreased by 5.3 per cent between two five years’ blocks — 2014-18 and 2019-23,” the report stated. A whopping 61 per cent of Chinese arms exports went to Pakistan. Bangladesh, Thailand and Myanmar are other buyers.

China supplied 19 per cent of arms to Sub-Saharan African countries, but the 2019-2023 period saw Chinese exports coming down by 23 per cent.

Pakistan has complained about engines and radars on board warships supplied by China. Pakistan faces problems with made-in-China fighter jets too. Bangladesh, Myanmar, Algeria, Kenya and Nigeria also faced issues with Chinese weapons.

Meanwhile, on April 19, the Foreign Ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) countries at a meeting in Italy expressed “strong concern” over the transfer of material and weapon components from Chinese businesses to Russia for its military offensive in Ukraine.