Report: Possible French sale to Pakistan could see military technology fall into Chinese hands
PARIS: Pakistan is seeking to buy missiles and radar from France for a fighter plane that it is developing jointly with China, according to the respected defense publication, Jane's. Experts say such a sale would carry a risk of the technology falling into Chinese hands, circumventing a European arms embargo on China.
Pakistan is talking to France about getting air-to-air missiles from the MBDA company and radars from Thales for its JF-17 fighter, Jane's Defense Weekly said.
Those missiles and similar radars also equip Taiwan's French-built Mirage fighters, defenses that could be compromised if Pakistan transfers the technology to China, according to Jane's.
If Pakistan lets Chinese engineers look at the technology, as reports say it did with U.S. military equipment in the past, then such a sale would also circumvent an EU ban on arms sales to China that has been in place since the Chinese military crushed pro-democracy protests in 1989.
Experts say that embargo is increasingly porous and France has previously lobbied for it to be lifted.
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Jane's cited unnamed Russian and Chinese sources as saying the French sale to Pakistan is "likely" to go ahead.
Repeated calls over two days and e-mailed questions from The Associated Press to the office of the French Prime Minister Francois Fillon went unanswered.
Asked Thursday about the report, Defense Minister Herve Morin replied: "To my knowledge, there is no arms embargo for Pakistan."
He noted that France has a system of controls on arms exports and referred further questions to the prime minister's office.
Without confirming that talks with Pakistan are under way, Defense Ministry spokesman Laurent Teisseire said: "We have no reason not to cooperate with Pakistan on its leading projects."
He dismissed concerns of any possible technology leak to China, citing arms control measures that would be part of any such sale.
A spokesman for MBDA, Pierre Bayle, at first told the AP: "There is a competition to equip the Pakistani local-built fighter, this is an open competition. MBDA is in the competition, with other competitors" from the United States and South Africa.
But the next day, Bayle retracted that, saying he had been given inaccurate information and that there was no formal bidding process under way.
"There might be preparatory discussions, there might be a market opening, we are always interested," he said.
A spokesman for Thales, Markus Leutert, said: "We are not commenting on any ongoing bids or unsigned contracts."
China regards U.S. ally Taiwan as part of its territory, although the island rules itself, with a democratically elected government. The China-Taiwan relationship is one of the world's most closely watched potential sources of conflict, making arms acquisitions by either side an issue of utmost sensitivity.
Alexander Neill, head of the Asia program at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies in Britain, said he anticipated a "quite vicious" reaction from the United States if France proceeds with a sale.
He said concerns that China could get its hands on the technology are "valid."
"Pakistan is building a very solid relationship with China," he said.
Jointly funded and developed by Pakistan and China since 1999, the JF-17 made its maiden flight in Sept. 2003, the office of Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf says on its Web site.
On a visit to the fighter's Chinese manufacturer in February 2006, Musharraf hailed the project as "a major leap forward" in China-Pakistan cooperation.
A chance to look at the French technology could allow China to counter it, possibly affecting the delicate military balance between China and Taiwan, said Paul Smyth, head of Aerospace Studies at the Royal United Services Institute.
"If one side knows a lot about the technical capabilities of the other, and you know that because you've actually got your hands on a radar or a piece of avionics, or a missile seeker head or some other operationally significant piece of kit, then you are very well placed to dissect it, look at how it works, decide how best to counter it ... so there's no doubt that having access to that would be significant," he said.
Report: Possible French sale to Pakistan could see military technology fall into Chinese hands - International Herald Tribune
