Arms to the PRC

In my latest column I talk a bit about the SIPRI report on the Russia-China arms trade, and suggest (pursuing Robert Wall's logic), that ending the EU arms embargo against China might be a way to drive a wedge between Russia and the PRC. As the SIPRI report points out, the arms trade relationship is already on life support:

By the middle of the last decade, however, the factors that made the relationship so strong had begun to subside. The sophistication and reliability of Chinese military equipment improved, while the quality of Russian industrial production declined. Some Russians also began to express concern about the growing military might of China, with which many border issues remain unsettled. By contrast, the military relationship between Russia and India appears to have remained relatively healthy, even in the face of recent disagreements over the price and delivery schedule of a refurbished Russian aircraft carrier.

The problem of intellectual property rights also looms large in the Sino-Russian arms trade. Russia remains concerned that China will not respect Russian intellectual property rights for arms transferred to China or licensed for Chinese production.