IS CHINA COPYING RUSSIAN ARMS TECHNOLOGY FOR ITS OWN EXPORTS?
The daily "Nezavisimaya gazeta" wrote on April 22 that "China is on its way to becoming a major arms exporter by shamelessly copying Russian military hardware" (see "RFE/RL Newsline," March 31 and April 9 and 17, 2008, and End Note, "RFE/RL Newsline," September 12, 2007 and March 12, 2008). Russian arms sales to China were recently reported to have dropped by 62 percent in 2007 because China's industrial capabilities are beginning to approach those of its neighbor, and because it seeks more sophisticated technology than Russia is willing or able to offer. "Nezavisimaya gazeta" noted on April 22 that "Moscow's hopes to strengthen its position in the Chinese arms market by permitting China to assemble [Sukhoi] Su-27SK [Flanker] fighters under license proved futile. Once it mastered the technology, China produced its own versions by itself...with the aim of selling the fighters to third countries. Russia officially informed China that [the practice]...constitutes a violation of existing agreements, and threatened litigation." The paper wrote that "a major importer of weapons and military hardware from Russia for years, Beijing is on its way to becoming an exporter of what has mainly been copied from Russian originals." "Nezavisimaya gazeta" suggested that "China may actually drive Russia from aircraft markets in third countries and even from the markets of Russia's traditional [customers]...like Angola, Ethiopia, Syria, and Iran." Newsru.com argued on April 22 that China has "reached a new level of piracy" by copying the design of the Su-27 for its own exports. PM
