China denies wrongdoing in moving weapons via UAE plane
- Source: Global Times
- [01:31 September 11 2009]
- Comments
By Xu Donghuan
Speculations have been running wild since Sunday when a United Arab Emirates (UAE) Air Force plane was detained in Kolkata, India, for carrying undeclared weapons bound for China.
An official from the Chinese Ministry of National Defense told the Global Times Thursday that there is nothing wrong with China transporting its weapons via a UAE military aircraft for a defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE.
The Times of India, the largest newspaper in the country, reported Monday that customs officials found three boxes containing undeclared arms, ammunition and explosives in a China-bound UAE Air Force's C-130 Hercules aircraft when it made a stopover at the Kolkata airport for refueling.
The nine crew members were detained and questioned, and the aircraft was held at the airport. After nearly 72 hours, the plane was released Wednesday evening and left for China at 9:30 am Thursday, the newspaper reported.
The discovery has fueled suspicions of wrongdoing by China, as the UAE buys most of its weapons from the US and EU, which impose strict controls on arms transfers to China, The Times newspaper in London reported Thursday.
"The most controversial theory is that the weapons include high-tech equipment that China would like to examine or copy," it said. "Last year, the UAE purchased 14 Maverick air-to-ground missiles from the US and also signed a contract to buy US Patriot air-defense missiles."
The paper cited analysts who said that the weapons could be Chinese samples being returned after tests in the UAE. They could also have been smuggled out of the UAE by individuals.
Other analysts said the arms might be MICA missiles – an anti-air short- and medium-range missile system – that the UAE bought from France, and China would be interested in procuring the system, The Times reported.
Another official from the Chinese defense ministry said the speculations by Western and Indian media as groundless and irresponsible.
Dai Xu, a noted scholar on Chinese defense, dismissed the speculation from the Western media, saying "The US has stipulated stiff rules regarding military-technology transfers."
He noted that "China has advanced missile technology by itself, and there is no need to covet missiles from France. Even if we are interested in their missiles, NATO forbids the sale to us."
Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a British think tank in London, told the Global Times that it is India that is interested in arms from the UAE, because India has boosted its military spending in recent years and has been purchasing high-tech weapons from the West in order to compete with China.
Agencies contributed to this story
