Myanmar rights group urges action against Chinese weapons manufacturer NORINCO

Justice For Myanmar (JFM) has called for international sanctions against China’s state-owned arms maker NORINCO following the release of new evidence linking the company to weapons supplied to Myanmar’s military. The watchdog’s statement, issued on Friday, came after the Mandalay chapter of the People’s Defence Force released photos of weapons crates seized during recent operations north of Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. Myanmar Now earlier reported that the group had captured 14 crates of NORINCO-made munitions during coordinated attacks on military outposts in Mandalay Region’s Madaya and Pyin Ooo Lwin townships. In its statement, JFM said the discovery confirms NORINCO’s ongoing complicity in arming the Myanmar military, including through components and technology that bolster domestic weapons production. “Among the seized weapons are NORINCO-manufactured GBP128 mine-clearing line charges... seemingly supplied to the junta under a 2017 contract,” the group said, adding that the company has continued to play a key role in facilitating military capabilities despite the junta’s documented war crimes. JFM also pointed to a May 2023 report by the UN Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, which found that NORINCO’s subsidiary, China Wanbao Engineering Corporation, directly supplied the junta with goods valued between US$5 million and $10 million from February 2021 to December 2022. A leaked 2022 letter further revealed NORINCO’s intent to provide a vertical launching system, surface-to-air missiles, guidance and control systems, and other naval equipment for a Myanmar navy frigate project. Between 2020 and 2022, the company sent multiple shipments of weapons components to the Directorate of Defence Industries. NORINCO technicians were also stationed at a military factory in Magway in 2018 and 2019, where they reportedly provided technical assistance for producing anti-aircraft weapons. Photographs posted by junta chief Min Aung Hlaing in 2018 confirmed the delivery of an MBT-2000 tank simulator, currently used at an armoured training school in Kyaukse. JFM said its sources, including former personnel from within the military, have confirmed that NORINCO has regularly facilitated arms production deals and training programmes for Myanmar soldiers in China. “NORINCO is ultimately owned by the Chinese State Council, which would have a significant say over the company’s strategic business decisions and export partners,” the group noted. JFM is calling on Beijing to immediately halt all transfers of weapons, components, training, and surveillance technology to the junta. “China must end its complicity in the military’s atrocity crimes,” the group said. The latest revelations come a week after the release of a new report by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar detailing the key role played by Chinese arms manufacturers in supporting Myanmar’s military. The report notes that Chinese companies have been instrumental in enabling the regime to carry out its relentless air raids, which have frequently targeted civilian populations. It calls on foreign governments and international organisations to pressure these companies to stop supplying weapons that the regime can use to commit crimes against humanity, war crimes, or other breaches of international law. “Companies and corporate executives that provide military support to the Myanmar junta, enable the production of aerial bombs, or otherwise facilitate the airstrikes may expose themselves to the risk of criminal and civil liability,” the report said.

Myanmar rights group urges action against Chinese weapons manufacturer NORINCO

The call comes amid growing concern over China’s role as a chief supplier of weapons to Myanmar’s military junta

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