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ZHUHAI (China): Russia is not afraid of strong competition on the Chinese arms market if the EU lifts a ban on arms sales to China, a Russian government official said Wednesday.
The EU imposed an embargo on exports of military equipment to China in 1989, following the repression of student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square. Recently, however, several EU members, including France and Germany, have proposed the embargo be lifted because China has improved its human rights record.
“Our position on the embargo is simple – it is the EU's right either to lift it [the ban], or maintain it,” said Alexander Denisov, deputy head of Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation.
“We are not afraid of the ban being lifted, and we are ready to face the competition [on the Chinese arms market],” he said.
China and Russia are closely linked by a number of military cooperation agreements and arms sales deals.
Rosoboronexport, Russia's state arms export monopoly, is completing talks on the sale to China of about 50 Su-33 Naval Flanker ship-borne fighters, worth $2.5 billion.
If successful, this will be the second most expensive national arms sales contract after a $3 billion agreement for the assembly of 140 Su-30MKI fighters in India under a Russian license.
According to the Pentagon, China buys about 95% of its new weapons from Russia. Its 2006 Annual Report on the military power of the People's Republic of China said Russia remains the leading supplier of weapons to China, and continues to cooperate with the country on a variety of technical and logistics issues, which allows China to maintain and modernize its large military potential.
According to Pentagon analysts, China has bought Su-27 Flanker fighters and Su-30 Flanker interceptors, AA-12 Adder medium-range air-to-air missiles, SA-10 Grumble, SA-15 Gauntlet and SA-20 Triumf surface-to-air missiles, 3M-54E (SS-N-27B) anti-ship cruise missiles, Kilo-class diesel submarines, Sovremennyi-class destroyers, Il-76 Candid transport planes and Il-78 Midas in-flight refueling tankers.
The Pentagon said that in 2000-2005 China concluded a series of contracts on military hardware deliveries with Russia worth $13 billion, and has already received $11 billion worth of weaponry under the deals.
At present, more than 50 Russian defense companies, including Sukhoi and MiG, are exhibiting fighter planes, helicopters, and military technology at the sixth China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China 2006), which opened October 31 in Zhuhai, in southern China.
