Buyer beware – Chinese military weapons are low quality, says US State Department official
- China is muscling in on the weapons market using cut-rate pricing, predatory financing and bribery, says a senior US State Department official
- The US supplies 36 per cent of global arms exports, according to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Buy American weapons, not low-quality Chinese armaments that risk killing not only your enemy but your own military personnel, a senior State Department official told potential foreign buyers in a pitch in Washington on Thursday.
The United States hands out some US$10 billion annually in security and defence grants to allies around the world, but China is muscling in on the weapons market in a bid to weaken US clout using cut-rate pricing, predatory financing and bribery, said R. Clarke Cooper, Assistant Secretary of State for Political-Military Affairs.
“Choosing the United States as a security partner remains far and away the best choice for nations around the world,” Cooper told ambassadors and military attaches during a meeting at the Meridian International Centre, a diplomacy group.
“China is using arms transfers as a means of getting its foot in the door – a door that, once is opened, China quickly exploits both to exert influence and to gather intelligence.”
China is using arms transfers as a means of getting its foot in the door – a door that, once is opened, China quickly exploits both to exert influence and to gather intelligence.”
Cooper pointed to cases where opting not to buy American weapons proved deadly.