Key Developments
since March 1999: China completed clearance of its border with Vietnam in
September 1999. For the first time, China announced that it had destroyed 1.7
million older antipersonnel mines in recent years. China is apparently
converting its non-detectable antipersonnel mines by adding metal. Though China
again abstained on the pro-Mine Ban Treaty UNGA resolution in December 1999, it
attended the First Meeting of States Parties in Maputo in May 1999.
Mine Ban Policy
The People's Republic of China (PRC) has not signed
the Mine Ban Treaty. It has been one of the governments most insistent on the
military necessity of continued use of antipersonnel mines. China has
criticized the treaty as being based solely on humanitarian concerns while
neglecting security requirements.[1]China was one of only ten governments that abstained on UN General
Assembly Resolution 51/45, passed 156-0 on 10 December 1996, urging states to
vigorously pursue an international agreement banning antipersonnel landmines. It
was also among the small number of states to abstain on pro-ban treaty UNGA
resolutions in 1997, 1998, and 1999.
In response to the Landmine Monitor request, China sent a letter describing
its landmine policy:
China has always attached great importance to accidental injury to civilians
caused by landmines. It supports proper and rational restrictions placed on the
use and transfer of landmines. At the same time, the Chinese government holds
that, in addressing the problem of landmines, especially that of anti-personnel
landmines (APLs), due regard should be given to both humanitarian concerns and
legitimate self-defense needs of sovereign countries. All countries are
entitled to safeguard the security of their nation, territory, and people by
legitimate military means, including the use of APLs, according to the purposes
and principles of the UN charter. As a developing country with long land
borders, China has to reserve the right to use APLs for self-defense on its own
territory pending an alternative to replace APLs and the presence of security
and defense capability.[2]
Yet China has also stated its support for “the ultimate objective of
comprehensive prohibition” of antipersonnel
mines.[3] At the First Annual
Conference for Amended Protocol II (Landmines) of the Convention on Conventional
Weapons (CCW) in December 1999, China stated that Protocol II and the Mine Ban
Treaty “have made their respective contributions to reducing the civilian
casualties” and “are not mutually exclusive, but rather reinforcing
and complementary to each
other.”[4]
China was one of very few governments that did not participate in any of the
Ottawa Process diplomatic conferences, though China sent observers to the ban
treaty signing conference in December 1997 in
Ottawa.[5] China was also one
of just twelve non-signatory states to send an observer delegation to the First
Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, held from 3-6 May 1999 in
Maputo, Mozambique.[6] China
has not participated in any of the treaty intersessional Standing Committee of
Experts meetings. It is notable that the government responded to the request
for information from Landmine Monitor, and provided comment on last year’s
report.[7]
On 4 November 1998, China ratified Amended Protocol II, and indicated it
would exercise the optional nine-year deferral period for compliance with key
restrictions.[8] At the First
Annual Conference for Amended Protocol II, China stated, “Amended Protocol
II has provided the most appropriate ways and means to address the landmine
issue.” China also regretted the lack of universality of Protocol II and
said it is imperative to promote
universality.[9] The Chinese
delegation was headed by Mr. Sha Zukang, Director-General, Department of Arms
Control and Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, indicating the importance
China attaches to landmines and Protocol II.
In October 1999, China submitted the report required by Article 13 of Amended
Protocol II, detailing steps China has taken to implement the protocol.
Information is provided, often in more detail than ever before, on dissemination
of information about the protocol to civilians and the armed forces (including a
special manual for the military), mine clearance efforts, post-clearance
rehabilitation measures, stockpile destruction and modification, other
mine-related legislation, and international assistance to mine
action.[10]
China is a member of the Conference on Disarmament (CD), and has supported
the CD as an appropriate forum to deal with the landmine issue. It has indicated
its willingness to negotiate a transfer ban in the
CD.[11]
Production
China is known as one of the world's largest
producers of AP mines. China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO) and Chinese
State Arsenals have been producing about twenty-two types of AP mines, six of
which are based on Soviet designs and the rest of Chinese origin. (See
Landmine Monitor Report 1999 for additional details).
It is unknown if China plans to begin production of new antipersonnel mines
that are compliant with Amended Protocol II, such as scatterable mines that have
self-destruct and self-deactivating mechanisms meeting the new technical
requirements of the Protocol. China should no longer be producing its most
common mine, the Type 72, to be compliant with Amended Protocol II, unless it
adds enough metallic content to meet the new standards (eight grams of metallic
content).[12] Also under the
terms of the protocol, China can no longer export the mine, and will have to
stop using it after 2007, unless metal is added.
Transfer
In the past China was one of the world's largest
exporters of AP mines. The Type 72 may be the most frequently encountered mine
in the world. On 22 April 1996, the Chinese government announced a moratorium
on the export of mines not in conformity with the Amended Protocol II, and
stated it would exercise the utmost restraint and strict control on the export
of all AP mines.[13] Indeed,
Chinese officials have said that China has not exported any antipersonnel mines
since 1995,[14] and there is no
concrete evidence to the contrary. Still, Chinese officials have stressed that
China's moratorium applies only to non-detectable mines and remotely-delivered
mines not in accordance with Protocol
II.[15]
China has supported discussions on a mine transfer ban in the Conference on
Disarmament.[16]
Stockpiling
China is believed to have the largest antipersonnel
landmine stockpile in the world. While the Chinese government will not provide
any information on stockpiles, several experts contacted by Landmine Monitor
have concluded that a plausible estimate of the Chinese AP mine stockpile is
some 110 million, including perhaps 100 million Type 72
alone.[17] In response to this
figure in the Landmine Monitor Report 1999, a Chinese official stated
that it was
“exaggerated.”[18]
Under Amended Protocol II, China will be prohibited from using the
non-detectable Type 72 in its present form after 2007. The Chinese government
will have to either destroy them or add eight grams of metal to them so that
they will be protocol compliant. A U.S. official told an ICBL delegation in
December 1999 that China would be converting its non-detectable mines by adding
metal.[19] China’s report
required under Article 13 of Amended Protocol II, submitted in October 1999,
states that “the competent departments of China began to work out
programs...so as to transform and dispose of all the APLs that are not in
conformity with the
Protocol.”[20]
China’s Article 13 report also reveals for the first time, “In
recent years, China has destroyed over 1.7 million old-type APLs of GLD110,
GLD120, GLD130 and GLD150, etc...(sic).”[21]
Use
China has used antipersonnel landmines along its
borders with Russia, India, and especially Vietnam, planting an estimated 10
million mines along those borders over the
years.[22]
Landmine Problem
The government states that “China is not a
country seriously affected by mines” and that the Sino-Vietnamese border
“is the only area affected by mines over the
years.”[23] Moreover,
after major clearance operations from 1992-1999, China maintains that now,
“The mine threat on the Chinese side along the Sino-Vietnamese border has
been basically
removed.”[24]
Before the clearance operations, landmines posed a threat to civilians in the
border areas with Vietnam, where there existed over 560 minefields with a total
area of over 300 square
kilometers.[25]
There are also mines laid along China's borders India and Russia, but the
danger to civilians is reportedly relatively minimal due to the sparsely
populated, mountainous
terrain.[26]
Mine Action Funding/Training
China began support for international humanitarian
mine clearance efforts in 1998. In November 1998, China donated $100,000 to the
UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Assistance in Mine Clearance, earmarked for
Bosnia-Herzegovina. Also in 1998, China contributed to the Trust Fund some
equipment for mine detection and clearance, earmarked for mine clearance
operations by 2001 in Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda
and Namibia.[27]
China is sponsoring two international mine clearance training courses in
China. The first training course was held in Nanjing from 11-30 October 1999,
with trainees from Cambodia, Namibia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The second course
will be held from 16 May to 4 June 2000, with trainees from Angola, Mozambique,
Ethiopia, Eritrea and Rwanda. During the courses, Chinese army experts provide
technical training, using mine clearance equipment to be donated by
China.[28]
The course was to be co-sponsored by the UN Mine Action Service, but UN
officials asked to be disassociated from the training. UN sources have told
Landmine Monitor that the training was inconsistent with UN mine action policy
and the UN International Standards for Humanitarian Mine Clearance Operations.
They noted that the course provided training in military post-conflict landmine
recovery operations, as a component of mine warfare operations, and concluded
that this type of operation should not be compared to and was not relevant to
humanitarian demining operations, though appropriate and extremely effective for
China’s needs.[29]
Mine Clearance
Mine clearance in China has been systematically
conducted by the People's Liberation Army as a military activity. According to
the Ministry of National Defense, China completed its clearance of the
Sino-Vietnamese border in September 1999. Operations were carried out in two
phases: from January 1992-July 1994 to clear important trade ports and passes,
and from July 1997-September 1999 to clear all remaining minefields except those
in disputed sections.[30]
The mine clearance was carried out by more than two thousand officers and
soldiers. They cleared 1.88 million landmines, 32,000 UXO, and destroyed more
than 700 tons of discarded ammunition and explosive devices. More than twenty
types of mines from different countries were found. A total area of some 300
square kilometers was cleared, and more than 290 border trade passes and ports
were reopened. About 60,000 hectares of farmland, pasture, and mountain forests
were restored.[31]
For some minefields, totaling some 20-30 square kilometers, China decided to
mark and “seal” the areas instead of clearing. It said that these
minefields were located near water sources or in primeval forests, and these
steps were taken in order to protect the natural resources and prevent civilian
injuries.[32]
The Army has said that three deminers were killed and more than twenty
injured and disabled during these mine clearance
operations.[33]
Landmine Casualties and Survivor Assistance
In response to a Landmine Monitor request for
information on victim assistance, China stated: “China attached importance
to assistance to mine victims and has made tremendous efforts in this area.
However, we have been engaged only in actual assistance work so far instead of
making them known to other countries. We are yet to conduct a comprehensive
compiling of the statistics in this regard. The departments concerned in the
Chinese government are trying to gather relevant information. Once available,
the information will be publicized in due
time.”[34]
A document dated 20 December 1999 from the Disabled Association of Guangxi
Fang Cheng Gang City in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region provides
information on mine victims:
Fang Cheng Gang City, situated in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of our
country, is a local city in the border area adjoining Vietnam in land and ocean.
Its population is 750,000, among which about 40,000 are disabled persons,
representing 5% of the entire population of the city.... Especially in 1978,
before and after the self-defense and counterattack battle occurred in the
Chinese-Vietnamese border, many civilians of our city stepped on mines and
became disabled. Most of the victims are farmers in the countryside suffering
from poverty. In addition, due to the dull development of the local economy, it
is extremely difficult for the local government to help them obtain prosthesis.
Therefore, most of the victims still do not have any means to get prosthesis and
live difficult lives.[35]
The document gives information regarding 149 mine-injured disabled persons,
42 in Fang Cheng District, 15 in Shangsi county, 77 in Gang Kous district, and
15 in Dog Xing city, including information such as name, address, gender, age,
nationality, educational background, year of injury, occupation, cause of
disability, type of injury and prosthesis. It appears 80% were male, more than
three-quarters listed “farmer” as occupation, and nearly half the
accidents occurred from 1978-1985. Of the 149, only thirteen had a prosthesis,
of which five were broken.
Disability Laws and Policy
The “law of the People's Republic of China on the protection of
disabled persons” was promulgated on December 28, 1990. This legislation
protects the rights of equality and participation of people with disabilities.
It clearly stipulates government responsibilities and legal guidelines for
rehabilitation, education, and employment.
[36]
The China Disabled Persons' Federation is a government-approved organization
which represents the interests of people with various categories of disability.
It protects their rights and provides services for them from a national level to
a township level (through its local
branches.[37]
The Regulations on the Education of Persons with Disabilities were approved
for implementation in 1994. The Regulations define the responsibilities of the
government, institutions, society, schools, and families in education of
disabled persons.
In 1993, the State Council Coordination Committee on Disability was
established. It is headed by a state leader and composed of leaders of 34
government agencies, institutions and representatives of disabled persons
organizations. The coordination committees on disability were also established
at local levels. The major responsibilities of the coordination committee are:
coordinating the formulation and implementation of the guidelines, policies,
laws and regulations, programs and plans on disability; solving problems related
to the work of disabled persons and organizing the UN activities in China
concerning disability
issues.[38]
Health System and Social Welfare
The health expenditure per capita was estimated to be US$ 20 (PPP) in
1997.[39] In December 1997,
there were 315,033 health establishments, including 67,911
hospitals.[40] In the years
1994-98, there were 290 hospital beds per 100,000 inhabitants
[41] There were 157 physicians
per 100,000 inhabitants in
1994.[42]
Beside the state, large enterprises also provided social services for their
employees. However a program of comprehensive social security reforms was being
devised, in recognition of the increasing level of expenditure required to
provide for an aging population and the rising rate of unemployment. A medical
insurance system was to cover all urban employees by the year 2000. Western and
traditional medical care, for which a fee is charged, is available in the cities
and, to a lesser extent, in rural areas.
There is no special care for disabled persons in the Chinese medical system
and they do not receive pensions. Disabled ex-servicemen are guaranteed
preferential treatment and pension by law, depending on their degree of
disability.[43]
In 1993 there was a total of 7,154 community based rehabilitation services,
including day-care centers for children with disabilities. In addition, the
State has set up in Beijing the China Rehabilitation Research Center which
combines medical treatment with research and training, and rehabilitation
departments in
hospitals.[44]
Tibet
Tibet can claim the dubious distinction of being
home to the world’s highest minefields. The landmine problem dates from
China’s military intervention in 1959, and from the attacks on India by
China launched from Tibet in 1962. Mines remain near the lines established by
China during its military push into the present areas of India in Ladakh and
Arunachal Pradesh.[46] These are
extremely remote, almost uninhabited, high mountain regions; some are on
permanent glaciers. Maintenance by China of minefields bordering Arunachel
Pradesh has been reported, but no new mine
laying.[47]
Casualties among the local Indian population in Arunachal Pradesh have been
reported to the Landmine Monitor, but none among Tibetan
refugees.[48] Possibilities for
immediate and continuing medical care for victims are unknown. Most of this
border is extremely rugged mountains with few roads. Landmines in these remote
border areas have been reported to claim the lives of Tibetan gazelle, Tibetan
wild ass, blue sheep, alpine musk deer and the snow
leopard.[49]
[1] Telephone interview with a Chinese
official, Tokyo, 26 February 1999. [2]
Letter from Mr. Wang Xiaolin, Third Secretary, Department of Arms Control and
Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of China, to
Association for Aid and Relief (AAR)-Japan, 10 April 2000. Nearly identical
language can be found in China’s first annual report required by Article
13 of the Amended Protocol II to the CCW, submitted in October
1999. [3] White Paper: China's National
Defense, Information Office of the State Council, People's Republic of China, 27
July 1998. The full statement is, “It is in favor of imposing proper and
rational restrictions on the use and transfer of APLs in a bid to achieve the
ultimate objective of comprehensive prohibition of such landmines through a
phased approach.” [4] Statement by
H.E. Ambassador Sha Zukang at the first Annual Conference of High Contracting
Parties to Amended Protocol II annexed to the CCW, 15 December
1999. [5]
Ibid. [6] Statement by H.E. Ambassador
Shao Guanfu, Head of Chinese Observer Delegation to the First Meeting of States
Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty, Maputo, Mozambique, 4 May
1999. [7] Letter from Mr. Wang Xiaolin,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 April 2000. China’s response to last
year’s report: “It is obvious that you attached importance to
reflecting China’s policy and position on the issue of landmines in your
report. For that purpose, you must have done a lot of work and consulted
relevant sources. We are grateful for your efforts in this regard. We
appreciate the responsible attitude you adopted by quoting the exact statements
made by Chinese officials in various occasions and the relevant section from the
White Paper on China’s National Defense. Meanwhile, we also noted that
Landmine Monitor 1999 quoted some remarks of assessment or speculation by
agencies from other countries or individuals on China’s production,
transfer, stockpiling and use of antipersonnel landmines (APLs). It is our view
that such an approach is not
appropriate.” [8] Declarations and
Reservations on CCW Protocol II entry into force 3 December 1998, at
http://www.un.org/Depts/Treaty/final/ts2/newfiles/part_boo/xxvi_boo/xxvi_2.html. [9]
Statement by Amb. Sha Zukang at the first annual conference for Amended Protocol
II, 15 December 1999. [10]
People’s Republic of China, Report to the First Annual Conference of
Contracting Parties to Amended Protocol II annexed to the CCW, submitted October
1999. [11] Telephone interview with a
Chinese official, Tokyo, 25 February 1999. See also, "Sino-U.S. Presidential
Joint Statement,” Beijing, 27 June
1998. [12] See Technical Annex, 2(a) of
Amended Protocol II. [13]
CCW/CONF.I/SR.11 [14] See Human Rights
Watch, The Mine Ban Treaty and Members of APEC, October
1998. [15] Telephone interviews with
officials from Department of Arms Control and Disarmament, Chinese Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, and two Chinese embassies, Tokyo, 24, 25, and 26 February
1999. [16] See, “Sino-U.S.
Presidential Joint Statement,” Beijing, 27 June 1998. See also, White
Paper: China's National Defense,
1998. [17] Based on interviews with
governmental officials involved in Protocol II discussions with
China. [18] Landmine Monitor discussion
with Peoples’ Republic of China Delegation, Maputo, Mozambique, 4 May
1999. [19] ICBL meeting with U.S.
delegation to CCW Amended Protocol II annual conference, Geneva, 13 December
1999. [20] China, Report to the First
Annual Conference on Amended Protocol II, October
1999. [21]
Ibid. [22] Humanitarian Demining
Website, U.S. Department of Defense, at
http://www.demining.brtrc.com/maps/china. [23]
Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of National Defence, People’s
Republic of China, Postwar Demining Operations in China (1992-1999), December
1999, p. 1. [24] Ibid., p.
11. [25] Ibid., pp.
1-2. [26] Humanitarian Demining Website,
U.S. Department of Defense. [27] China,
Report to the First Annual Conference on Amended Protocol II, October
1999. [28]
Ibid. [29] Landmine Monitor/Human Rights
Watch, interview and correspondence with UN officials, April and June
2000. [30] Ministry of National Defence,
Postwar Demining Operations in China, December, 1999, p. 4. China’s
Protocol II Article 13 report says operations were carried out from “the
beginning of 1992 to the end of 1994 and from November 1997 to August
1999.” There are press accounts referring to ceremonies to note the end
of the clearance operations dated 11 August 1999. See for example, Beijing
Xinhua, “PRC Clears Last Landmines on Border with Vietnam,” 11
August 1999. [31] Postwar Demining
Operations, p. 4. China’s Article 13 report states “over 2.2
million mines and explosive devices” were
removed. [32] Ibid., p.
5. [33] Daily News of Liberation Army,
10 August 1999. [34] Letter from Mr.
Wang Xiaolin, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 10 April
2000. [35] Disabled Association of Fang
Cheng Gang City, “Explanation of the below-knee disabled persons in the
Guangxi Fang Cheng Gang City,” 20 December
1999. [36] “Law of the People's
Republic of China, 17th meeting of the Standing Committee, 28 December
1990,”
http://www.gladnet.org. [37] Asian and
Pacific decade of Disabled Persons 1993-2002: the starting point, UN, New York,
1993. [38] The Development of the
Undertakings of Disabled Persons in China, China Disabled persons’
Federation document. [39] "Health Report
2000, Annex Table 8 Selected national health accounts indicators for all Member
States ", last update 21 June 2000, WHO, 23 June 2000,
http://www.who.ch. [40] The Europa World
Year Book 1999, p 932, Vol. 1, Fortieth edition, Europa Publications Limited ,
London , 1999. [41] World Development
Indicators 2000, p 90. [42]
l'état du monde 2000, p 300. [43]
“Law of the People's Republic of China, 17th meeting of the Standing
Committee, 28 December 1990,”
http://www.gladnet.org. [44] Asian and
Pacific decade of Disabled Persons 1993-2002: the starting point, UN, NY,
1993. [46] Interview with retired Maj.
Gen. D. Banerjee, Institute for Peace & Conflict Studies (New Delhi), Oslo,
March 1999. [47]
Ibid. [48] Interview with Dr. Pema
Dorjee, Chief Medical Officer of Men Tsee Khang Clinic, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal,
17 June 1999. [49] Grant Peck,
“Animals and Landmines,” Associated Press, Bangkok, 7 May
2000.
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