Author:
Publication: http://defence-data.com/current/page8179.htm
Date: August 22, 2000
Summary
In a bid to develop a
market for its arms industry, China has dispatched four military delegations
to sub-Saharan Africa in the last few months. South Africa and the
United Nations have worked to resolve the region's conflicts. But
China's new policy - really intended to get the People's Liberation Army
out of the Chinese economy - threatens to create a miniature but destabilising
arms race in southern Africa.
Analysis
A visiting delegation
of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) officials met with senior Namibian
military officials on Aug. 14 to discuss Namibia's defence force
structure, reported the Namibian news agency, Nampa. The delegation
then visited a military vehicles manufacturer owned by the Namibian military.
Within the last few months,
Beijing has sent four military delegations to Africa. Officially,
the trips are designed to strengthen military co-operation between China
and its African allies. In reality, the trips signal China's plan
to increase weapons sales. If just one regional player begins to
modernise its weapons, others in the region will be forced to follow suit.
International, as well as South African, efforts to bring peace will be
undermined.
The PLA visit to Namibia
is part of a pattern stretching back to May, when Chinese officers visited
Angola and Botswana. Both missions resulted in bilateral agreements
to strengthen military co-operation. In July, a group of Chinese
warships made a landmark visit to the continent, calling on ports in South
Africa and Tanzania.
These contacts appear
to be aimed at achieving financial gain, not the geopolitical influence
that Beijing sought in Africa during the Cold War. In a bid to counter
both Moscow and Washington, Beijing supported rebel movements in Angola
and Namibia and sold arms to Sudan and Zimbabwe.
These contacts appear
to be aimed at achieving financial gain, not the geopolitical influence
that Beijing sought in Africa during the Cold War. In a bid to counter
both Moscow and Washington, Beijing supported rebel movements in Angola
and Namibia and sold arms to Sudan and Zimbabwe.
Today, Beijing is looking
to shift its military's money-making away from China's domestic industries
and toward shipping arms abroad. Doing so will strengthen the hands
of civilian Chinese leaders. Arms exports, after all, require government
approval. They also satisfy the PLA's need to make up for revenues
lost as it abandons domestic enterprises.
In Africa, the Chinese
military is starting from scratch: looking to strike comparatively small
deals - when compared to the United States and Russia - in places without
heavy competition. According to Chinese government statistics, the
PLA has arms export deals with only 22 countries in the world. Only
two are in Africa. The structure of these deals can be novel.
For instance, the PLA has reportedly traded Kalashnikov rifles for eight
tons of ivory, reported the London newspaper, the Sunday Times, on July
9.
But the sale of even
comparatively small amounts of arms can begin to tip the balance of power
and trigger a round of buying. In Namibia, for instance, the PLA
has reportedly sold at least four K- 8 advanced training aircraft, according
to a report by Republikein, a Namibian newspaper, on July 27. A two-seat
jet aircraft capable of a speed of 590 miles per hour, the K-8 can also
be configured as a light ground attack aircraft.
It is often equipped
with a 23-millimeter gun under the fuselage, a self-computing optical gun
sight and two hard points, for carrying bombs or rockets. Several
countries, including Pakistan, use the jets in the ground attack and reconnaissance
roles. Once Namibia places the jets into operation, others like Botswana
will feel the need to buy these or similar aircraft.
All the regional players
have a huge demand for small arms. Angola, Botswana and Namibia have
increased defence spending while Angola and Namibia spend resources fighting
two major conflicts. Luanda has doubled its troop numbers, from 60,000
in 1998 to 114,000, in the 25-year-old civil war against the National Union
for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Botswana uses the bulk
of its weapons budget to buy armoured vehicles, heavy guns, small arms
ammunition and stun grenades, reported the London daily, the Financial
Times on July 22.
Such an arms race could
threaten one of the few sources of stability in the region: South Africa's
military superiority. Pretoria still has the upper hand, compared
to other regional militaries. And South Africa has scaled down its
troop numbers while modernising its weaponry. In September 1999,
South Africa spent $5 billion on high- tech, foreign-made weapons, including
three new submarines, four warships, 40 helicopters and 28 fighter jets.
But the flow of arms
to the region threatens to prolong conflict - in opposition to the South
African, and international, attempts to tamp down Africa's wars.
