Washington, Aug. 26 (ANI): China's arms exports have surged over the past decade, flooding sub-Saharan Africa with cheap assault rifles and ammunition.
This has also exposed Beijing to international scrutiny, as its lethal wares have also ended up being exported in conflict zones, which violates U.N. sanctions.
The trend has been most sharply felt in sub-Saharan Africa, where China's arms presence is seen in Africa, it also sells weapons to 16 countries, more than any other top arms trader from outside the region.
According to the Washington Post, weapons from China have surfaced in a number of war zones from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Ivory Coast, Somalia and Sudan.
China is by no means alone in supplying the arms that help fuel African conflicts, and there is no proof that China or its arms exporters have intentionally violated U.N. embargoes in any of those countries, the report said.
According to the report, China has also blocked the release of embarrassing U.N. revelations of illicit arms transfers, stopped the reappointment of an arms expert who uncovered Chinese weapons and sought to restrict the budget to fund investigations.
It has also consistently refused to allow U.N. investigators to trace the origin of Chinese weapons discovered in war zones, the report said.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, it now accounts for 25 percent of the market, not including South Africa.
"Africa is quite an important market for the Chinese arms industry because it is a stepping stone" to becoming a first-tier arms exporter, Pieter D. Wezeman, the chief author of the SIPRI report, noting that China's offerings are far too inferior to compete in the industrialized arms market said, adding: "They have to start somewhere," he said. (ANI)
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