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Moscow hesitates over selling military technology to China

Russia's arms industry is suffering a near collapse in exports to China as its military agonizes over which technology Beijing should have, a Russian daily said yesterday.

The independent Nezavisimaya Gazeta said that Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov would visit China to try to resolve problems in their relationship before Russian President Vladimir Putin's term ends in May.

From a situation where 40 percent of Russian earnings from arms exports came from China, "recently exports to China of our military equipment and weapons have dropped almost to zero," the paper said.

The main issue is indecision over which technology can be sold to China safely, as well as Beijing's desire to receive licenses to do the work itself, the paper said, citing a senior officer overseeing the arms industry, Mikhail Dmitriyev.

The newspaper said that Moscow's willingness to deliver cutting-edge technology to India -- another major importer of Russian weapons -- had "embittered the Chinese generals."
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