Latest news with #ChineseWeapons
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
UAE denies supplying Chinese weapons to Sudan paramilitaries
Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied arming the Rapid Support Forces, despite multiple reports.(EPA Images pic) DUBAI : The United Arab Emirates on Friday denied an Amnesty International report accusing it of providing Chinese-made weapons to Sudanese paramilitary forces at war with the regular army. 'The UAE strongly rejects the suggestion that it is supplying weaponry to any party involved in the ongoing conflict in Sudan,' said Salem Aljaberi, the UAE's assistant minister for security and military affairs. 'These claims are baseless and lack substantiated evidence,' he said in a statement posted on the foreign ministry's X account. On Thursday, Amnesty said it identified 'Chinese GB50A guided bombs and 155mm AH-4 howitzers' through analysis of footage of attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on Khartoum and Darfur. The London-based human rights group said the UAE was the only country to import howitzers from China, in a deal in 2019. It relied on data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute for its report. 'The howitzer referenced in the report is a system manufactured outside the UAE and has been available on the international market for nearly a decade,' Aljaberi said, labelling the Amnesty report as 'misleading'. 'The assertion that only one country has procured or transferred this system is invalid,' he added. Amnesty's report came as the RSF pressed its long-range drone attacks on army-held cities in Sudan. Abu Dhabi has repeatedly denied arming the RSF, despite reports from UN experts, US politicians and international organisations. On Tuesday, the army-aligned government severed ties with the UAE, accusing it of supplying the RSF with the advanced weapons systems it has used to strike Port Sudan. The UAE denied the allegation, saying the internationally recognised administration 'does not represent the legitimate government of Sudan'.
Malay Mail
20-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Chinese military hardware gets rare battle test after Pakistan claims Indian aircraft kills
SHANGHAI, May 20 — Just over a week after a ceasefire with India was struck, Pakistan's foreign minister is visiting his country's largest arms supplier, China, with the performance of the weapons they supplied a matter of burning interest for analysts and governments alike. The most striking claim from four days of fighting earlier this month was Islamabad's contention its Chinese-supplied jets had shot down six Indian aircraft — including three French-made Rafale fighters — with some observers seeing this as a symbol of Beijing's rising military might. Experts who spoke to AFP cautioned that a lack of confirmed information and the limited scope of fighting made it difficult to draw solid conclusions about the Chinese equipment's prowess. Still, 'this was a rare opportunity for the international community to gauge Chinese military hardware on the battlefield against Western (Indian) hardware', said Lyle Morris from the Asia Society Policy Institute. While China pours hundreds of billions of dollars into defence spending each year, it lags far behind the United States as an arms exporter. China's drones are used in counter-terrorism operations, and its weapons have been deployed by Saudi Arabia in Yemen and against rebel forces in African countries, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) senior researcher Siemon Wezeman told AFP. 'But this is the first time since the 1980s that a state has used large numbers of Chinese weapons of many types in action against another state,' said Wezeman, referencing the Iran-Iraq war when they were used on both sides. 'Primary option' Pakistan accounts for around 63 per cent of China's arms exports, according to SIPRI. In the recent fighting, Pakistan used the J10-C Vigorous Dragon and JF-17 Thunder planes, armed with air-to-air missiles. It was the first time the J10-C has been used in active combat, said the Stimson Center's Yun Sun. Islamabad's air defences also used Chinese kit — including the HQ-9P long-range surface-to-air missile system — and deployed Chinese radar as well as armed and reconnaissance drones. 'This was the first sustained fight where the bulk of Pakistan's forces used Chinese weapons and, basically, relied on them as their primary option,' said Bilal Khan, founder of the Toronto-based Quwa Defence News & Analysis Group. India has not officially confirmed any of its aircraft were lost, although a senior security source told AFP three jets had crashed on home soil without giving the make or cause. Rafale maker Dassault has also not commented. The Rafale is considered one of Europe's most high-tech jets, while the J10-C 'is not even China's most advanced', said James Char from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. But if Pakistan's claims are true, 'this should not be surprising... considering that the Rafale is a multirole fighter, whereas the J-10C was built for aerial combat and is also equipped with a stronger radar,' Char said. The Chinese air-defence systems, however, 'do not appear to have been as effective as the Pakistan Air Force would have hoped', said Quwa's Khan, after India said it had neutralised one near the eastern border city of Lahore. If true, said SIPRI's Wezeman, that 'would be a bigger success and more than balance the loss of some aircraft in the process'. 'Significant reorientation' In the days after the dogfight reports, J10-C maker Chengdu Aircraft Company's stock soared over forty per cent. 'We most likely will see more orders going to Chinese contractors,' said the Stimson Center's Sun. However, 'it will take time and significant reorientation by Chinese arms manufacturers for the country to be a big arms exporter', said Jennifer Kavanagh from the US think tank Defence Priorities. She noted that China 'cannot mass-produce certain key inputs, including aircraft engines'. Wezeman said he thought the stock markets 'overreacted', as 'we still have to see how well all the weapons used worked and if it really means much'. Even if more data emerges, the conflict still does not reveal much about the Chinese military's own capabilities, the analysts said. China's own systems and weapons are much more advanced than what it exports. And while having high-tech hardware is important, 'much more important is how those weapons are used', said Kavanagh. Brian Hart of CSIS said he would caution against 'reading too much' into recent developments. 'I don't think you can make direct comparisons to how these Chinese-made systems would fare in different environments against more advanced adversaries like the United States,' he explained. 'Since the number of data points is small and since we don't know much about the proficiency and training of the personnel on either side, it is hard to draw definitive conclusions.' — AFP
Arab News
20-05-2025
- Business
- Arab News
Chinese weapons get rare battle test in India-Pakistan fighting
SHANGHAI: Just over a week after a ceasefire with India was struck, Pakistan's foreign minister is visiting his country's largest arms supplier, China, with the performance of the weapons they supplied a matter of burning interest for analysts and governments alike. The most striking claim from four days of fighting earlier this month was Islamabad's contention its Chinese-supplied jets had shot down six Indian aircraft — including three French-made Rafale fighters — with some observers seeing this as a symbol of Beijing's rising military might. Experts who spoke to AFP cautioned that a lack of confirmed information and the limited scope of fighting made it difficult to draw solid conclusions about the Chinese equipment's prowess. Still, 'this was a rare opportunity for the international community to gauge Chinese military hardware on the battlefield against Western (Indian) hardware,' said Lyle Morris from the Asia Society Policy Institute. While China pours hundreds of billions of dollars into defense spending each year, it lags far behind the United States as an arms exporter. China's drones are used in counter-terrorism operations, and its weapons have been deployed by Saudi Arabia in Yemen and against rebel forces in African countries, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) senior researcher Siemon Wezeman told AFP. 'But this is the first time since the 1980s that a state has used large numbers of Chinese weapons of many types in action against another state,' said Wezeman, referencing the Iran-Iraq war when they were used on both sides. Pakistan accounts for around 63 percent of China's arms exports, according to SIPRI. In the recent fighting, Pakistan used the J10-C Vigorous Dragon and JF-17 Thunder planes, armed with air-to-air missiles. It was the first time the J10-C has been used in active combat, said the Stimson Center's Yun Sun. Islamabad's air defenses also used Chinese kit — including the HQ-9P long-range surface-to-air missile system — and deployed Chinese radar as well as armed and reconnaissance drones. 'This was the first sustained fight where the bulk of Pakistan's forces used Chinese weapons and, basically, relied on them as their primary option,' said Bilal Khan, founder of the Toronto-based Quwa Defense News & Analysis Group. India has not officially confirmed any of its aircraft were lost, although a senior security source told AFP three jets had crashed on home soil without giving the make or cause. Rafale maker Dassault has also not commented. The Rafale is considered one of Europe's most high-tech jets, while the J10-C 'is not even China's most advanced,' said James Char from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University. But if Pakistan's claims are true, 'this should not be surprising... considering that the Rafale is a multirole fighter, whereas the J-10C was built for aerial combat and is also equipped with a stronger radar,' Char said. The Chinese air-defense systems, however, 'do not appear to have been as effective as the Pakistan Air Force would have hoped,' said Quwa's Khan, after India said it had neutralized one near the eastern border city of Lahore. If true, said SIPRI's Wezeman, that 'would be a bigger success and more than balance the loss of some aircraft in the process.' In the days after the dogfight reports, J10-C maker Chengdu Aircraft Company's stock soared over forty percent. 'We most likely will see more orders going to Chinese contractors,' said the Stimson Center's Sun. However, 'it will take time and significant reorientation by Chinese arms manufacturers for the country to be a big arms exporter,' said Jennifer Kavanagh from the US think tank Defense Priorities. She noted that China 'cannot mass-produce certain key inputs, including aircraft engines.' Wezeman said he thought the stock markets 'overreacted,' as 'we still have to see how well all the weapons used worked and if it really means much.' Even if more data emerges, the conflict still does not reveal much about the Chinese military's own capabilities, the analysts said. China's own systems and weapons are much more advanced than what it exports. And while having high-tech hardware is important, 'much more important is how those weapons are used,' said Kavanagh. Brian Hart of CSIS said he would caution against 'reading too much' into recent developments. 'I don't think you can make direct comparisons to how these Chinese-made systems would fare in different environments against more advanced adversaries like the United States,' he explained. 'Since the number of data points is small and since we don't know much about the proficiency and training of the personnel on either side, it is hard to draw definitive conclusions.'
Bloomberg
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Chinese Weapons Gain Credibility After Pakistan-India Conflict
Sign up for the India Edition newsletter by Menaka Doshi – an insider's guide to the emerging economic powerhouse, and the billionaires and businesses behind its rise, delivered weekly. The recent conflict between India and Pakistan is prompting a reassessment of Chinese weapons, challenging long-held perceptions of their inferiority to Western arms and sparking concern in places wary of Beijing.
Japan Times
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Success of Chinese fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
The recent conflict between India and Pakistan is prompting a reassessment of Chinese weapons, challenging long-held perceptions of their inferiority to Western arms and sparking concern in places wary of Beijing. Pakistan hailed the use of its Chinese J-10Cs to shoot down five Indian fighters, including French-made Rafale aircraft, last week in response to Indian military strikes. Although the reports haven't been confirmed, and India hasn't commented, the jet's maker saw its market capitalization soar by over 55 billion yuan ($7.6 billion), or more than a fourth, by the end of last week. Hu Xijin, the ex-editor-in-chief of China's nationalist tabloid Global Times, warned on social media that if Pakistan's successful strikes were true, Taiwan should feel "even more scared.' Beijing sees the self-ruled democracy as its own, and reserves the right to use military force to bring it under control. Taiwan closely watched the clash between Pakistan and India, according to Shu Hsiao-Huang, an associate research fellow at the Institute of National Defense and Security Research, a government-funded military think tank based in Taipei. "We may need to reassess the PLA's air combat capabilities, which may be approaching — or even surpassing — the level of U.S. air power deployments in East Asia,' Shu said, adding Washington might want to consider selling more advanced systems to Taiwan. While Chinese leader Xi Jinping has been trying to modernize the world's biggest military by the number of active personnel, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has been mired in scandals. That had raised questions about the combat-readiness of its powerful and secretive Rocket Force, which is responsible for conventional missiles and would play a crucial role in any invasion of Taiwan. The reported success of J-10Cs, which have had few battle tests and are used to patrol the Taiwan Strait, appears to counter those doubts. It's still uncertain, however, how they would fare against U.S. fighters such as the F-16, which make up the bulk of Taiwan's jets and have been combat-proven across decades and militaries. People take photos of Pakistan Air Force jets in Karachi on Feb. 27. | REUTERS Another Chinese weapon Pakistan uses will also be coming under intense scrutiny by Beijing's adversaries. Parts of Chinese air-to-air PL-15 missiles found in India after the reported shoot-downs suggest the weapons, deployed on Pakistan's J-10C aircraft, proved effective in their first known combat use. With a top speed above Mach 5, the PL-15 is a rival to Western air-to-air missiles. China is the world's fourth-largest arms exporter but its customers are mostly developing nations like Pakistan that have limited funds. The latest developments could bolster Beijing's sales pitch as major economies from Europe to Asia heed U.S. President Donald Trump's call to ramp up defense spending. "There is a good chance the weapons systems China is able to offer will be even more appealing to potential buyers' especially in the Global South, said James Char, assistant professor of the China Program at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, noting the J-10C is not even China's most advanced jet. Buying weapons has also become a focus for developing nations, mulling U.S. arms purchases to appease Trump and his demands to reduce American trade imbalances. Several of these countries list China as a top trading partner and could consider hedging bets by acquiring systems from the Asian country, too. China's overseas arms sales have been growing, with its five-year average weapons exports more than tripling in 2020-2024 from 2000-2004, according to calculations based on data from Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Chinese government and state-owned enterprises do not disclose data on arms exports. Some of the largest state-owned players — also blacklisted by the U.S. — include Norinco Group, which makes armored vehicles and anti-missiles systems; Aviation Industry Corporation of China, whose subsidiary AVIC Chengdu Aircraft manufactured the J-10Cs; as well as China State Shipbuilding, a producer of frigates and submarines. M. Taylor Fravel, director of the Security Studies Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, cautioned that the Chinese jet was primarily for aerial combat, while the Rafale was designed to conduct many kinds of missions, meaning the J-10 may have held an advantage. Pakistani Air Force J-10C fighter jets produced by China's Chengdu Aircraft Company | AFP-JIJI / Getty Images / via Bloomberg Chinese weapons exports have been plagued for years by defects, specialists have said, adding that the seemingly inexpensive systems can drain security budgets due to maintenance expenses. "China attracts customers for its military equipment with cut-rate pricing and financing but there are hidden costs — especially when gear malfunctions,' Cindy Zheng, then a researcher at the Rand Corp., wrote in a research paper just before joining the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission in the latter stages of the Biden administration. In 2022, Myanmar had to reportedly ground its fleet of Chinese fighter jets due to structural cracks and other technical issues. Bangladesh lodged complaints with Beijing about the quality of its military hardware last year. Even the Pakistan Navy has been facing issues with its F-22P frigates, forcing them to operate the vessels with significantly degraded capabilities. "Questions about combat capabilities and other issues, including concerns about interoperability with non-Chinese platforms, have hampered China's ability to expand exports beyond a handful of countries,' Bloomberg Intelligence's senior associate analyst Eric Zhu wrote in a note last week. China's Defense Ministry didn't respond to a request for comment on the past weapon defects and the J-10C's recent performance. Beijing regularly says that its military helps maintain global stability and that it prefers to resolve the Taiwan issue peacefully. Xi has been trying to turn China's defense industry around by bringing together the military and civilian sectors, in an effort to transform the PLA into a modern force by 2027. That's led to breakthroughs such as China's launch in December of its first next-generation amphibious assault ships, considered the world's largest of its kind. A video of what is believed to be a test flight of the nations' sixth-generation fighter jet circulated on social media that year, leading to a rally in defense stocks. But it's wrong to call the J-10C's potential success a "DeepSeek moment' for China's military, said Fravel, referring to the artificial intelligence chatbot that surprised the world earlier this year, noting that the jet's design wasn't new. "But it doesn't need to be a DeepSeek moment to be significant,' he added. "A lot is being learned about how Chinese systems perform under combat conditions.'
