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France Wants to Sell Weapons to China Charles R. Smith China has a friend in Europe who wants to sell the warlords in Beijing weapons. France's defense minister renewed her government's call to lift the European arms embargo on China. "There is a lack of logic in the position of some," Michele Alliot-Marie said during a meeting in Japan with Japanese Defense minister Fumio Kyuma, referring to the U.S. pressure placed on Paris to maintain the embargo. Alliot-Marie said lifting the embargo would not pose a threat, arguing that European and French rules on arms exports "are even stricter than the rules of the embargo." "What is important is for China's military power to be put to the service of peace," said Alliot-Marie. Alliot-Marie failed to explain why using French weapons to threaten Taiwan with annihilation would be in the "service of peace." Of course, the Japanese also don't see the peaceful aspects of facing French armed Chinese missiles, warships, and aircraft either. Japan voiced concern about China's military spending, which is due to rise some 18 percent this year. French President on Board Story Continues Below
Her boss, the soon-to-be-ex French President Jacques Chirac has been a chief supporter for ending the arms embargo. The European Union imposed the embargo after China's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy students in Tiananmen Square in 1989. The reason for the French fever pitch to sell weapons to China is all too clear. The French defense industry is suffering from a severe cash flow problem. French military purchases alone cannot justify or economically sustain a large defense industrial base. In addition, French weapons are not selling very well abroad. The latest French fighter, the Rafale, is having problems finding a market. Several customers, including Singapore and South Korea, have walked away from lucrative deals offered by Paris for the Rafale. Both nations elected to purchase the U.S. F-15 Eagle, citing better performance, avionics, longer range, and more payload as reasons for the selection. In the short run, French weapons sales to Beijing would bring in hard cash needed to maintain the technology base for a viable defense industry. However, in the long run, France risks losing its technology to China and finding itself competing with Beijing on the open market. Despite French calls for an end to the embargo, the EU seems unlikely to move any time in the near future. The Chinese record on human rights has not improved and the recent anti-satellite test angered several EU member states. International pressure on China increased in the wake of its recent offensive anti-satellite missile test. Several nations openly protested the move, citing the potential damage to current and future space missions. However, the Chinese anti-satellite test has also killed efforts here in the U.S. Congress to remove restrictions on space technology sales to China. A new report from the U.S./China Economic and Security Review Commission raised several questions about China's space-based military intentions. China claims that it is only working on "civilian" space projects for peaceful purposes. "The likelihood of Chinese hypocrisy, deception or merely lack of uniform policy implementation must be considered," noted the commission report. "An aggressive Chinese analysis of U.S. space vulnerabilities and even covert systems development by the Chinese may be considered consistent with a Chinese view that the weaponization of space by the U.S. is inevitable and requiring a counterstrategy." Chinese Anti-satellite Strategies The Commission uncovered 30 Chinese anti-satellite strategies aimed at destroying or rendering U.S. satellite systems useless. All of the programs and tactics were outlined in open Chinese military literature. The Chinese tactics included direct attacks on U.S. space based assets by missiles and lasers as well as strikes against U.S. space control centers and links. One covert means brought up by Chinese military thinkers included the use of civilian Chinese satellites to collide with or destroy American satellites. Despite the benevolent statements by the Chinese civil space agency, the army-run Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, or COSTIND, leads the Chinese space program. COSTIND minister Liu Jibin noted that space development is a "reflection of comprehensive national strength." During the Clinton administration, COSTIND commanders PLA Gen. Ding Henggao and Gen. Shen Roujun were able to purchase U.S.-made satellites and launch vehicle technology from Loral, Hughes and Motorola. Gen. Shen, according to a congressional report, played a key role in acquiring classified missile technology. China succeeded in obtaining a wide range of U.S. missile technology from the Clinton administration including satellite control facilities, satellite image processing facilities, missile nose cone design, multiple warhead delivery systems, guidance systems, radiation hardened computer chips, kick-motor designs, and computer systems for ground and space control. Chinese space engineers openly admit that the People's Liberation Army is using U.S.-made software and computers to improve its ballistic missile force. Cheng Qifeng, an engineer at the Shaanxi Engine Design Institute in Xian, admitted that PLA engineers are using EDS Unigraphics CAD/CAM computer-aided design software to help improve rocket engines for both space and ballistic missile applications. "We chose Unigraphics software as the core software of our liquid rocket engine CAD/CAM system," stated Cheng. Cheng noted that the PLA had made improvements on turbo pumps, oxygen pressure pumps, fuel pumps and gas generator hardware "using hybrid modeling technology supplied by Unigraphics software" running on UNIX and Windows workstations. The U.S. space technology sales ended when Congress removed the power from President Clinton. Clinton had given all export powers to the free-wheeling and dealing Commerce Department — and as a result China made a great leap forward in her military. Today, the power over export controls rests with the Defense Department and State Department. Ironically, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton embraces her husband's terms in office including the military technology sales to China. She also embraces or at least still accepts the donations from several people who were involved in the high-tech hijacking. Jacques Chirac and Hillary Clinton share a common view of China. Expect a President Hillary Clinton to remove export controls and go with the French image of Beijing using its military technology for "peace." Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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