Key developments since May 2004: China expressed its desire to
expand cooperation with Mine Ban Treaty States Parties. China sent a high-level
observer delegation to the First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty and
said it was “positively considering” the submission of a voluntary
Article 7 transparency report. It also declared that the army had recently
begun a new round of demining operations in areas where border demarcation is in
progress, on the border with Vietnam in Guangxi and Yunnan provinces. China has
continued to destroy and modify antipersonnel mines that do not comply with CCW
Amended Protocol II. At the Sixth Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW
Amended Protocol II, China stated that a new international demining assistance
program was due to start in the first half of 2005.
Mine Ban Policy
The
People’s Republic of China has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. In
November 2004, China restated its long-held position that while it
“understands and attaches importance to the humanitarian concerns”
surrounding the landmine issue, the “legitimate self-defense needs of
sovereign states” should also be
addressed.[1] China is one of a small
number of countries that has abstained from voting on every annual UN General
Assembly resolution in support of a ban on antipersonnel mines since 1996,
including UNGA Resolution 59/84 on 3 December 2004.
Since 2003, China has shown growing interest in engaging in a dialogue with
States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. In recent years, China has said on
several occasions that it endorses “the ultimate goal of a total ban on
antipersonnel mines.”[2] The
Director-General of the Arms Control and Disarmament Department of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Liu Jieyi, led China’s observer delegation to the
First Review Conference of the Mine Ban Treaty, held in Nairobi in
November-December 2004. This marked China’s highest-level participation
in a Mine Ban Treaty meeting. In his statement to the high level segment, Liu
Jieyi stated that China endorses the “purposes and objectives” of
the treaty, and noted, “China closely follows the Ottawa process and has
been enhancing exchanges and cooperation with States Parties to the
Convention....We stand ready to further expand our cooperation with the States
Parties to the Convention, in order to contribute to the early elimination of
landmine problems.”[3]
Liu Jieyi also stated that China is “positively considering the
submission of a national report in line with the requirements set forth in
Article 7 of the Convention.”[4]
In May 2005, an official said that a date has not been determined for when China
might submit a voluntary Article 7 transparency
report.[5] In September 2005, a
senior official said that the issue was still being studied and may take some
time; he indicated that if submitted, the report may not have all of the
information called for in Article 7, as it would be a voluntary
report.[6]
China has participated in most of the Mine Ban Treaty intersessional Standing
Committee meetings since May 2000, including in June 2005. In April 2004, it
hosted a workshop on demining technology and cooperation in Kunming in southern
China, in cooperation with the Australian Network of the ICBL.
In September 2005, the ICBL’s Diplomatic Advisor, retired Indian
Ambassador Satnam Singh, undertook a special advocacy mission to China and met
with senior officials. The Director-General of the Department of Arms
Control and Disarmament told him that China would eventually accede to the Mine
Ban Treaty, but that it was not possible to put a timeframe to
it.[7]
China is a State Party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and
its Amended Protocol II on
landmines.[8]
It actively participated in the CCW Group of Governmental Experts meetings on
Explosive Remnants of War and Mines Other Than Anti-Personnel Mines in 2004 and
2005. China submitted its national annual report required under Article 13 of
Amended Protocol II on 16 November 2004. China reported that its military held
a meeting on CCW implementation for military personnel in Hai Kou, Hai Nan
province, in June 2004, and conducted a CCW research and training session in
Xian, Shan Xi province, in July 2004, in which 30 senior and middle rank
commanders participated.[9]
Production
China has been one of the world’s largest
producers of antipersonnel mines. Two government-owned companies, China North
Industries Corporation (NORINCO) and Chinese State Arsenals, have produced at
least 22 types of antipersonnel mines, including six copies of Soviet
designs.[10]
China has reported that it has not produced non-self-destructing
antipersonnel mines since 1997, and that all new antipersonnel mines being
produced or under research and development have self-deactivation and detection
capacities to comply with the requirements of CCW Amended Protocol
II.[11]
In September 2003, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official told media that as
far as he knew, China was not engaged in antipersonnel mine production because,
“We have a large stockpile and we are not preparing for war. We are not
laying any mines along our borders and I do not see the need for producing
anymore.”[12]
Stockpiling
Chinese officials have never responded to Landmine Monitor requests for
clarification on the number of stockpiled antipersonnel mines. Based on
interviews with non-Chinese government officials involved in Protocol II
discussions in 1995 and 1996, Landmine Monitor has estimated the Chinese
antipersonnel mine stockpile at 110 million, including perhaps 100 million Type
72 mines.
China has been modifying some antipersonnel mines and destroying other
antipersonnel mines that do not meet CCW Amended Protocol II requirements for
detectability or self-destruct
mechanisms.[13]
It is believed that China is modifying most of its non-detectable
mines―including the estimated 100 million Type 72s—by adding metal,
rather than destroying them.
In November 2004, a Chinese official stated that “Chinese military
forces continued, as planned, to conduct general survey and destruction of old
mines that are not in conformity with the requirements of the protocol. Up to
now, hundreds of thousands of old landmines have been
destroyed.”[14] China also
reported in November 2004 that in order to ensure the proper survey and
destruction of stockpiles, its military laid down nine rules and technical
standards, and trained several hundred technical
experts.[15]
At the First Review Conference, Liu Jieyi told the media, “Our
stockpiles are decreasing, not
increasing.”[16] He also
said, “We have taken decisive steps to clear landmines in our country,
destroying our stockpiles and doing everything to support the moratorium of
landmine transfer.”[17]
Transfer and Use
Since 1996, China has adhered to a moratorium on the export of antipersonnel
mines that do not conform to Amended Protocol
II.[18] This
commitment was reaffirmed at the First Review Conference in November-December
2004.[19] Landmine Monitor is not
aware of the export of any antipersonnel mines of any type by China since 1996.
China was one of the world’s biggest exporters of antipersonnel mines.
China has stated that it “adheres to a national defense policy of
‘active defense,’ which rules out the possibility of deployment of
landmines
abroad,”[20]
and that “China is extremely cautious and prudent in using landmines
within its borders.”[21]
Landmine Problem
China has used antipersonnel mines along its
borders with Russia, India and Vietnam. The United States estimated in the
1990s that the Chinese had planted some 10 million mines along these
borders.[22]
After major clearance operations in 1992-1999, however, China reported that the
mine threat on the Chinese side of the border with Vietnam “has been
basically
removed.”[23]In 2002, however,
China started new mine clearance activities along its border with Vietnam, in
the provinces of Guangxi and Yunnan. The operation was part of a bilateral
border agreement in 1999 with Vietnam, in which the two countries agreed to
complete technical survey of mined areas by
2005.[24]
Regarding the border area with the former Soviet Union, in October 2004
Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo met delegates from Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan in Beijing to discuss military
“trust” and the reduction of military forces in border
areas.[25] It is not known if mine
clearance was included in these discussions.
Existing minefields in Yunnan province, which reportedly cover an area of 54
square kilometers, are marked with warning
signs.[26] It
is not known whether this marking has been maintained since this statement was
made in February 2003. Progress with border demarcations in the last round of
large-scale demining operations, referred to by China at the First Review
Conference, is also not known.
Landmine Clearance and International Cooperation
At the First Review Conference, China’s high level observer delegation
stated that “upon accession to the Amended Landmine Protocol to the CCW,
we have fulfilled our obligations in all aspects, thus effectively eliminating
problems caused by landmines on our territory.” It continued by stating
that “Chinese Military authorities have recently launched a new round of
demining operation in areas where border demarcation is in
progress.”[27]
Military survey and clearance teams were deployed to the border areas in
Guangxi and Yunnan provinces. By September 2004, some 20,874 square meters had
been cleared in Guangxi, opening up five border inspection roads with a total
length of 4,309 meters. A further 86,000 square meters were cleared for road
construction to enable transportation of marking equipment, and some 1,000 mines
and UXO were destroyed.[28]
In Yunnan, in 2002 clearance operations, three border inspection roads were
opened with a total length of 4,350 meters, through the clearance of 8,070
square meters of land, destroying 97 mines and items of
UXO.[29] The Yunnan teams had
cleared an area of 31,000 square meters for road preparations by September
2004,[30] but it is not known how
many explosive devices were destroyed. No new information about the progress of
border demarcation or any further mine clearance operations in China is
available for the period after September 2004 through the first quarter of
2005.
Mine clearance is conducted by the People’s Liberation Army as a
military activity.[31] China has
indicated that it uses four demining techniques: destruction by burning (in
areas with dense vegetation); blast clearance (for speeding up operations and
reducing casualties); mechanical operations; manual detection and
clearance.[32]
A workshop on Humanitarian Mine/UXO Clearance Technology and Cooperation was
held in Kunming on 26-28 April 2004, co-sponsored by the Department of Arms
Control and Disarmament of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China Arms Control
and Disarmament Association and Australian Network of the
ICBL.[33] China stated that,
“To improve the quality of cooperation and assistance, we should explore
new patterns of cooperation. For example, multiple parties could participate in
the same cooperation program, giving full play to their respective advantages in
terms of human and financial resources, equipment, technology and management,
etc.”[34]
In November 2004, China stated that it was “drawing up plans to launch
a new round of an international demining assistance programme and has entered
into close consultations with relevant parties. Hopefully, this assistance
programme will be unfolded in the first half of next year
(2005).”[35]
China attended the International Humanitarian Landmine Removal Seminar on
18-22 July 2004, hosted by the US Department of
Defense.[36]
China also participated in a symposium held in Bangkok on 30 August to 1
September 2004 on demining and victim assistance in Southeast
Asia.[37] On 2-3 September 2004,
China visited the Thailand Mine Action Center to see demonstrations of Thai
demining operations, as well as to discuss possibilities for further
cooperation.[38]
Mine Risk Education and Landmine Casualties
Responsibility for mine risk education (MRE) rests
with the provincial governments. An ex-military official in Beijing stated that
no systematic MRE is conducted, but in the 1980s when many incidents occurred,
mine awareness was conducted in mine-affected
areas.[39]
In 2004, at least four people were injured in mine-related incidents. The
four farmers, all men, were injured while cultivating their land. It is
believed that the mines washed onto their land after the monsoons. In 2003, at
least five people were injured in mine
incidents.[40] Data on landmine
casualties is generally not publicly available. Chinese authorities maintain
that no new mine casualties have occurred since China finished major mine
clearance operations in
1999.[41]
No new landmine incidents were identified to May 2005 in Yunnan
province.[42]
The total number of mine casualties in China is not known. The International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) estimates that over 6,000 civilians have lost
limbs in mine incidents in
China.[43]
Landmine Monitor has identified more than 5,706 mine casualties in Yunnan and
Guangxi province, including 4,207
survivors.[44]
Survivor Assistance
In some areas of Guangxi and Yunnan provinces,
adequate assistance is often not available as the mine-affected areas are a long
way from medical and rehabilitation facilities. Emergency first aid services
are virtually non-existent in rural
areas.[45]
In Yunnan province, the China Disabled Person’s Federation (CDPF)
provides physical rehabilitation services in Kunming, and at 103 rehabilitation
stations in urban areas and 131 in rural areas; some rehabilitation services are
also provided by private centers. The Ministry of Civil Affairs runs one
prosthetic workshop in Kunming and a temporary workshop in Wenshan. CDPF
operates eight prosthetic workshops in Chuxiong, Dali, Honghe, Kunming, Wenshan,
Yuxi and Zhaotong. Project Grace, a US-registered NGO, also has a workshop in
Kunming. In Wenshan County,
landmine survivors receive support from the Post-War Recovery Foundation, CDPF
and Ministry of Civil Affairs. CDPF has established vocational training units
in each county, but opportunities for training are limited in Guangxi and
Yunnan.[46]
ICRC, in cooperation with Yunnan branch of the Chinese Red Cross Society
operates a prosthetic center in Kunming. ICRC completed construction and
equipping of the center in 2004 and provided training for local staff, while the
government covered the running costs of the rehabilitation program. Four
students were sponsored to undertake a three-year course in prosthetics and
orthotics at the Chinese School of Prosthetics and Orthotics (CHICOT) in
Beijing. In 2004, the center registered more than 350 people from Wenshan,
fitting 313 prostheses (including 275 for mine survivors) and distributing eight
crutches. Three amputees required surgical interventions to prepare their
stumps for fitting. The cost of the interventions was covered by
ICRC.[47]
Disability Policy and Practice
The 1990 Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of
Disabled Persons protects the rights of equality and participation of persons
with disabilities; however, many disabled people reportedly do not have access
to the services designed to assist
them.[48]
Government policy towards persons with disabilities is established in the
tenth Five-Year Plan (2001-2005). Very few of the targets reportedly have been
achieved in Yunnan province, and rehabilitation services are often beyond the
means of the poor in rural
communities.[49]
[1] Statement by the Chinese
Delegation on the Vote on Draft Resolution “Implementation of Ottawa
Convention,” A/C.1/59/L.40/Rev.1, 1 November 2004.
[2] Zhang Yishan, quoted in UN
Security Council, S/PV.4858, 4858th meeting, “Agenda: The
importance of mine action for peacekeeping operations,” New York, 13
November 2003. China also endorsed “the ultimate goal” in Statement
by Ambassador Hu Xiaodi, Fifth Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW
Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 26 November 2003.
[3] Statement by Liu Jieyi,
Director-General of the Arms Control and Disarmament Department, Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Nairobi Summit for a Mine-Free World (First Review Conference),
Nairobi, 3 December 2004.
[4] Statement by Liu Jieyi,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December
2004.
[5] Interview with an unnamed
official from the Arms Control & Disarmament Department, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Beijing, 9 May 2005. One source indicated a possible submission date
could be around 3 December 2007, China’s deadline for compliance with
Amended Protocol II technical specifications. Interview with a Chinese
ex-military official, Beijing, 10 May 2005.
[6] Email from Amb. Satnam Singh,
ICBL Diplomatic Advisor, 6 September 2005, reporting on his meeting in Beijing
with Amb. Zhang Yan, Director-General, Department of Arms Control and
Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[7] Email from Amb. Satnam Singh,
ICBL Diplomatic Advisor, 6 September 2005, reporting on his meeting in Beijing
with Amb. Zhang Yan, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
[8] The deadline for China to
comply with the Amended Protocol’s technical specifications on the
detectability and reliability of antipersonnel mines is 3 December 2007.
[9] CCW Amended Protocol II
Article 13 Report, 16 November 2004, p. 1.
[10] For additional details see
Landmine Monitor Report 1999, pp. 457-458.
[11] CCW Amended Protocol II
Article 13 Report, 10 December 2001, p. 5; reaffirmed in CCW Amended Protocol II
Article 13 Report, November 2003, p. 5.
[12] Darren Schuettler,
“Interview―China says not ashamed of mine stockpile,”
Reuters (Bangkok), 17 September 2003. This quotes Fu Cong, China’s
senior delegate at the Fifth Meeting of Mine Ban Treaty States Parties in
Bangkok. He repeated this in a filmed interview with Disarm documentary
filmmakers on 17 September 2003.
[13] In December 2002, China said
it had accelerated this process. Statement by Amb. Sha Zukang, Fourth Annual
Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 11 December
2002.
[14] Statement by Amb. Hu Xiaodi,
Sixth Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 17
November 2004. In November 2003, China said more than 400,000 old mines had
been destroyed. Statement by Amb. Hu Xiaodi, Fifth Annual Conference of States
Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II, 26 November 2003.
[15] CCW Amended Procotol II
Article 13 Report, 16 November 2004, p. 7. China reported in November 2003 that
the Chinese national army organized more than 10 training courses on safe and
appropriate stockpile destruction technology for military personnel who are
engaged in stockpile destruction in each military district. The training was
based upon the results of a survey conducted by the national army of all the
antipersonnel mine stockpiles. CCW Amended Protocol II Article 13 Report,
November 2003, p. 5.
[16] “China mulls joining
landmine ban,” Reuters (Nairobi), 30 November 2004.
[17] “China to work towards
joining mine ban treaty,” Agence-France Presse (Nairobi), 1
December 2004.
[18] CCW Amended Protocol II
Article 13 Report, Form C, November 2003.
[19] Statement by Liu Jieyi,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December
2004.
[20] Statement by Fu Cong, Fifth
Meeting of States Parties, Bangkok, 19 September 2003.
[21] “Landmines:
China’s Position & Actions At the Stakeholders’ Workshop on the
Mine Action Policy Review,” Rome, 7-8 October 2004.
[22] US Department of State,
“Hidden Killers 1994,” p. 18, and “Hidden Killers 1998,”
Table A-1.
[23] Ministry of National
Defense, “Postwar Demining Operations in China,” December 1999, p.
11. Before the clearance operations, there were more than 560 minefields
covering an area of over 300 square kilometers.
[24] CCW Amended Protocol II
Article 13 Report, December 2002, p. 5. [25] “Disarmament helps
improve border security,” Xinhuanet (Xinhua web page), Beijing, 29
October 2004, www.china-un.ch/eng/cjjk/speech/t168533.htm.
[26] Interview with Miao Yuyong,
Secretary, Post-War Recovery Foundation, Wenshan, 26 February 2003.
[27] Statement by Liu Jieyi,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, First Review Conference, Nairobi, 3 December 2004.
[28] CCW Article 13 Report
Amended Protocol II, 16 November 2004, p. 6.[29] CCW Article 13 Report
Amended Protocol II, November 2003, p. 4. As reported in Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 950, clearance took place in October-November 2002.
[30] CCW Article 13 Report
Amended Protocol II, 16 November 2004, p. 6.
[31] See Landmine Monitor
Report 1999, p. 462.
[32] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 950.
[33] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 950.
[34] Statement by Long Zhou,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kunming Workshop, China, 27 April 2004.
[35] Statement by Amb. Hu Xiaodi,
Sixth Annual Conference of States Parties to CCW Amended Protocol II, Geneva, 17
November 2004.
[36] CCW Article 13 Report
Amended Protocol II, 16 November 2004, p. 10.[37] CCW Article 13 Report
Amended Protocol II, 16 November 2004, p. 10. [38] CCW Article 13 Report
Amended Protocol II, 16 November 2004, p. 10.
[39] Interview with a Chinese
ex-military official, Beijing, 10 May 2005.
[40] Interview with Lian
Yunsheng, Director, Orthopedic Project Office of the Yunnan Red Cross, and
Nicolas Daniel, Prosthetist-Orthotist, ICRC Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center,
Kunming, 11 May 2005. All casualties identified in 2003 and 2004 were fitted
with prostheses at the ICRC center in Kunming during 2004.
[41] Interviews with Li Jonze,
Deputy Director-General, Development and Reform Commission of Yunnan province,
and Fu Cong, Deputy Director-General of Arms Control and Disarmament, at the
Kunming Workshop, 27 April 2004.
[42] Interview with Lian
Yunsheng, Director, Orthopedic Project Office of the Yunnan Red Cross, and
Nicolas Daniel, Prosthetist-Orthotist, ICRC Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center,
Kunming, 11 May 2005.
[43] ICRC, “ICRC and
Chinese Red Cross: joint centre fits limbs for mine victims,” 19 March
2004.
[44] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, pp. 952.
[45] For more information, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2001, pp. 531-533.
[46] For more information, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2004, pp. 952-953.
[47] ICRC Physical Rehabilitation
Program, “Annual Report 2004,” Geneva, July 2005, p. 26; interview
with Lian Yunsheng, Director, Orthopedic Project Office of the Yunnan Red Cross,
and Nicolas Daniel, ICRC Orthopedic Rehabilitation Center, Kunming, 11 May 2005;
see also Landmine Monitor Report 2004, p. 952.
[48] US Department of State,
“Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004: China,”
Washington DC, 28 February 2005; for more details on the legislation, see
Landmine Monitor Report 2000, p. 487.
[49] See Landmine Monitor
Report 2004, p. 953.
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