Russia, Iran or Pakistan, why China backs those needling neighbours into conflicts: It's arms business

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From Russia to Pakistan, China has emerged as the primary profiteer of conflicts as it has been exploiting new market for its arms exports with every new conflict in various parts of the world from Europe to Asia and Africa. read more
Chinese People's Liberation Army HQ-9 surface to air missile launchers are seen during a military parade at Tiananmen Square in Beijing. File image/AFP
China has emerged as the primary profiteer of conflicts in recent years as its military exports are increasingly making their way to conflict zones.
In recent years, Chinese weapons have been used in conflict by Pakistan, Russia, Yemen-based Houthis, and a host of other state and non-state actors in conflicts in Africa, such as ethnic and civil conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and elsewhere.
China has lately sent military equipment from aircraft to missiles and drones to 44 countries, according to the latest global arms trade report from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri).
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Reflecting the close partnership between the two countries, as much as 63 per cent of Chinese military exports have gone to Pakistan, which range from fighter planes and missiles to air defence systems and drones. These systems were used in the conflict with India in May.
However, the India-Pakistan conflict was not the only conflict in which Chinese weapons were used.
From Ukraine to West Asia wars, Chinese weapons drive conflicts
China has been central to the Russian war on Ukraine.
China has not just sustained the Russian war economy by providing the country with dual-use supplies, such as machinery, electronics, and chemicals, that allow it to make weapons and military system for the war, but has also supplied direct weapons such as military drones.
Russia's dependence on China is such that it imported around 90 per cent of high-priority goods from China and imported nearly all of critical machine tools from China, according to research from Takshashila Institution.
In West Asia, Chinese weapons have been used by non-state actors against Israel in the conflict that began with the October 7 attack.
Last year, US intelligence sources told i24 News that Yemen-based and Iran-backed Houthis have procured Chinese weapons to attack ships in exchange for allowing Chinese vessels undisturbed.
Other than Iranian proxies in West Asia, Chinese weapons have also been used in Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict around the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.
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Chinese weapons in Africa
China's weapons and military systems have been used in conflicts across Africa.
In some parts, such as West Africa, every one in four military system in use is now from China. Estimates have said that around 70 per cent of African nations now use Chinese military vehicles.
In the Sudanese Civil War (2023-) and the Darfur conflict (2003-20), Chinese weapons have been used by nearly all warring sides. While Chinese arms have been used by government forces, Chinese drones have been used by paramilitary force RSF in the ongoing civil war.
Similarly, various factions have used Chinese weapons in South Sudan.
Similarly, Chinese weapons have also been used in civil wars and insurgencies in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mali, and Burkina Faso.
In recent years, China has overtaken Russia to become the largest military goods supplier to sub-Saharan Africa.
In Nigeria, a major Chinese defence company has set up a factory to produce ammunition.