Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 2, Issue 1, Fall 2016 | Page 95

Is China Playing a Contradictory Role in Africa?
an estimated 70,000 people were displaced from eastern Darfur in 2011 due to ethnic
attacks directed toward the Zarghawa community by the SAF and government-backed
militias. Nevertheless, Amnesty International confirmed that Chinese-made weapons
are found all over Sudan including Southern Kordofan (Deen 2012).
In December 2011, a SIPRI report found that by 2010 China was the foremost
exporter of arms to Africa, a continent well known for gross human rights violations.
Between 2006 and 2010 China had captured a full 25% of the market compared to only
9% in the preceding 5 year period between 2001 and 2005 (SIPRI 2011). The reason for
China’s leading role in arms transfers over traditional leaders like the US, Russia, France,
Germany, and the UK, is the fact that it is willing to transfer military aid or make more
attractive deals in exchange for critical resources rather than cash. Moreover, China
is also prone to ignore UN sanctions against arms trade with countries like Sudan or
Zimbabwe where severe human rights violations occur. However, some critics believe
that China’s arms transfer role in Africa is exaggerated by Western countries noting
that while China transfers largely small or light weapons, exporters like the US focus
on quality transferring more sophisticated weapons, while Russia concentrates on
quantity, making it the largest arms supplier to Africa. China takes much of the blame
because it supplies small, low-tech, arms which are relatively inexpensive and easy
to use and as a result, cause more destruction because of their scope and frequency
of use compared to more sophisticated heavy weapons. Small or light arms are also
responsible for civil unrest, atrocities, civilian deaths and involvement of child soldiers
in rebellions. It is much easier to use a Chinese Type 56 rifle (China’s version of the
Russian Avtomat Kalashnikov (AK) assault rifle) than a Chinese aircraft which would
require specialized training before it could be operated. China is viewed as playing
a contradictory role where arms transfers and peace-keeping are concerned. For
example, in the case of Sudan, China finally submitted to pressure to support UN
Peacekeeping, but at the same time failed to suspend its arms sales which negatively
impacted the regions of Darfur, South Kordofan, and the Blue Nile. China is, in other
words, not interested in joining an arms embargo, or unilaterally ending arms sales in
zones of conflict in Africa. China, one could argue, is a captive of its own foreign policy
doctrine of non-interference in the affairs of another country (McPartland 2012).
Chinese exports to Sudan comprise of attack aircraft, munitions, and armored
vehicles which are used against civilians. According to Amnesty International, following
a raid at the Zam Zam camp for displaced civilians in Sudan in December 2011,
ammunition was discovered bearing Chinese “41” and “71” manufacture codes, and
(20) 06 and (20) 08 manufacture dates indicating that it was transferred to Darfur after
the imposition of a UN arms embargo (Amnesty International 2012). China’s violation
of the UN arms embargo on Sudan is evident throughout the country with Chinese
made ammunition bearing its own manufacture codes discovered in Darfur and the
South Kordofan regions in 2011. Using either Chinese or Russian-made weapons, the
SAF has focused its attacks on both military targets and civilian populations. In 2009,
Chinese-trained Guinean Commando units were responsible for the killing of about
150 people during a protest against authoritarian rule in Conakry. In eastern DRC,
Chinese trained Congolese troops were implicated in the killing of many innocent
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