The UK government has approved a substantial rise in arms sales to Indonesia and India, despite guidelines stating it will not export weapons if they could be used for internal repression or fuel regional instability.
Only last week Indonesian commanders deployed Scorpion tanks in a campaign to crush separatists in the province of Aceh after earlier assurances that British equipment would not be used for internal repression.
More than 80 non-governmental organizations called last week for a global arms embargo on Indonesia after credible reports of systematic human rights violations by troops in Aceh.
The value of British arms cleared for export to Indonesia rose from ?2 million in 2000 to over ?40 million last year, a 20-fold increase. Weapons sales approved for India -- where ministers are still trying to clinch a ?1 billion deal for the sale of Hawk jets -- have doubled since 2001 and totalled more than ?110 million last year.
The increases are revealed in the government's latest annual report which show that British arms exporters appear to be shifting away from their traditional markets of Gulf states in the Middle East to new lucrative ones in Asia.
Export licences approved for Indonesia included components for military training aircraft, rocket launchers, tanks, and armored personnel carriers.
Licences were approved to sell to India components for anti-aircraft guns, electron beam guns, fast attack craft, frigates, military helicopters, and combat aircraft, as well as small arms ammunition. Though exports approved for Pakistan were much less, valued at ?15 million, they included components for air-to-air missiles, combat helicopters, frigates, and small arms ammunition.
In May, members of Parliament on four House of Commons committees raised concerns about British arms exports to India and Pakistan, questioning whether the government took "sufficiently into account the risk of regional instability on the sub-continent when making export licensing decisions."
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese