China

Mine Ban Policy

The People’s Republic of China has not acceded to the Mine Ban Treaty. Since 2003, China has shown interest in engaging in a dialogue with States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty. China has said on several occasions that it endorses “the ultimate goal of a total ban on antipersonnel mines.”^[1]

On 5 December 2007, China voted in favor of UN General Assembly Resolution 62/41 calling for universalization and full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty. This was the third consecutive year that China has supported this annual resolution, after abstaining from 1997 to 2004. Chinese officials have said that the votes demonstrate that China attaches great importance to the Mine Ban Treaty and that China is ready to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with States Parties.^[2]

China attended as an observer the Eighth Meeting of States Parties in Jordan in November 2007 where it stated that China “appreciates the humanitarianism enshrined in the Ottawa Convention and endorses its purposes and objectives.”^[3] China attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2008 but made no statements. It also attended the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Regional Forum Seminar on Antipersonnel Mines held in Penang, Malaysia, on 8–10 April 2008.

China is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. China submitted its national annual report as required under Article 13 of Amended Protocol II in September 2007, and attended the Ninth Annual Conference of States Parties in November 2007.^[4]

In ratifying Amended Protocol II, China exercised the optional nine-year deferral period for compliance with key restrictions. The deadline for China to comply with the protocol’s technical specifications on the detectability and reliability of antipersonnel mines was 3 December 2007. In November 2007, the government stated that “China has strictly implemented obligations of the Protocol. China conducted technical modification to or destroyed stockpiled APLs which failed to meet the requirements of the Protocol.”^[5] It provided few additional details (see below).

China is not a party to CCW Protocol V on explosive remnants of war (ERW). It did not attend the Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions in May 2008.

Production, Transfer, and Use

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.^[6]

In April 2008, several sources in Beijing told Landmine Monitor that these two companies’ facilities to produce antipersonnel mines are idle, have shut down, or have been converted for production of other products, such as plastic materials. They said this reflected several factors: the existence of adequate stockpiles for China’s own use; the government’s policy not to export antipersonnel mines; and the lack of demand internationally for CCW-compliant antipersonnel mines.^[7] One official noted that production began to decrease in 1996 when China announced its moratorium on export, and continued to diminish until coming to a halt in recent years, though the producing companies retain some technicians and a limited production capacity.^[8]

In November 2007, China stated it had “made progress in developing alternative weapons to antipersonnel landmines.”^[9]

In March 2006, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official confirmed that China has not produced non-self-destructing antipersonnel mines since 1997. He said that all new antipersonnel mines being produced, or under research and development, have self-destruct and self-deactivation mechanisms, and are compliant with CCW Amended Protocol II.^[10]

In the past, China stated that it had a formal moratorium on the export of any mines that did not comply with Amended Protocol II, and, as noted above, China has declared that since December 2007 it no longer possesses such mines. More recently, Chinese officials have said that China has “basically halted exports of all kinds of APLs.”^[11] Landmine Monitor is not aware of the export of any antipersonnel mines of any type by China since 1996. China was previously one of the world’s biggest exporters of antipersonnel mines.

China has apparently not laid new minefields in many years. A Chinese official said that there was no need, since there were no security problems with neighboring countries in recent years. He explicitly stated that China did not use antipersonnel mines in Tibet.^[12]

Stockpiling and Destruction

China is believed to have the largest antipersonnel mine stockpile in the world. Based on interviews with non-Chinese government officials involved in Amended 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. Chinese officials have long claimed 110 million is an exaggeration, although they have never provided an alternative number of stockpiled antipersonnel mines.^[13] In April 2008, a Foreign Ministry official again told Landmine Monitor the estimate was incorrect, but said that the number is a military secret and diplomats are not in a position to clarify the number.^[14]

Landmine Monitor has been told that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related think-tanks have urged the Ministry of Defense to clarify the number of stockpiled antipersonnel mines. Some civilian government officials, and ex-officials, believe that clarifying the number in stockpiles would be an important measure for transparency and confidence-building, and would also show China’s commitment to alleviate the humanitarian problems caused by landmines. They note that it is a necessary step towards joining the Mine Ban Treaty, and that the military’s reluctance has delayed China’s ability to provide a voluntary Article 7 transparency report.^[15]

China has reported that, from 1 October 2006 to 31 August 2007, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) destroyed more than 50 tons (1,016kg) of old and obsolete stockpiled antipersonnel mines and other munitions that did not meet the technical requirements of CCW Amended Protocol II or were of too little value to be worth modifying.^[16] China also reported that it had modified antipersonnel mines that did not meet Amended Protocol II requirements, including Type 72 mines that were modified by adding eight grams of metal to make them detectable.^[17] In September 2007, China stated that it had met its December deadline to comply with the protocol’s technical specifications.^[18] In order to meet the deadline, the Ministry of Defense established Amended Protocol II Implementation Laboratories in Beijing, Shenyang, Nanjing and other regions of China to carry out studies on detectability, self-destruction features of landmines and stockpile destruction.^[19]

Landmine/ERW Problem

China has emplaced antipersonnel mines on its borders with India, the Russian Federation, and Vietnam. The United States estimated in the 1990s that China had planted some 10 million mines along these borders.^[20] China reported in December 1999 that the mine threat on its side of the border with Vietnam, namely, Yunnan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, “has been basically removed” following major clearance operations between 1992 and 1999.^[21] At that time, however, the border had not been fully demarcated and several dozen square kilometers of land where minefields remained were disputed.^[22] Border demarcation and clearance of these mined areas continued in April 2008.^[23] There is also an ERW problem, although its extent is not known.

Demining

Mine clearance is conducted by the PLA as a military activity.^[24] Between 1992 and 1999 China conducted two large-scale mine clearance operations along the border with Vietnam in Yunnan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, but these did not deal with minefields located in disputed areas of the border. After a technical survey of mined areas in the former disputed area on the Vietnam border, China embarked on new clearance operations in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Yunnan. From January to July 2005, 97,000m² of land were cleared and more than 350 mines and items of unexploded ordnance were removed from the former disputed area.^[25] Border demarcation and clearance of these mined areas continued in April 2008.^[26]

Landmine/ERW Casualties

The government has reported that there were no landmine/ERW casualties within China or among Chinese citizens outside of China in 2007 and through June 2008. Chinese authorities maintain that no new mine casualties have occurred since the completion of mine clearance activities in 1999.^[27]

In 2007, however, two new antipersonnel mine casualties were reported from two incidents in China; both were injured.^[28] The casualties occurred in September and November in Yunnan province. One casualty was a man who was injured close to the border with Vietnam. Information about the other casualty was not available. In addition, a Chinese deminer was injured in Lebanon in March 2008 (see below). Due to a lack of public information about mine/ERW casualties in China and incomplete data collection, there might be more casualties.^[29]

In 2006, the government reported no new mine/ERW casualties in China.^[30] However, the rehabilitation center of Red Cross Society of China Yunnan Branch (RCSC-Yunnan) assisted one person who reportedly had a landmine incident in 2006.^[31]

The total number of mine/ERW casualties in China is not known; Landmine Monitor has identified 5,707 mine/ERW casualties (4,208 survivors) between 1979 and 2000. Since then, another 13 casualties (all injured) have been reported,^[32] although it is likely that the true number is significantly higher. Between 2004 and the end of 2007, the RCSC-Yunnan assisted 294 mine/ERW survivors and landmines were the third largest cause of amputation (23%).^[33]

The December 2006 national disability survey by the China Disabled People’s Federation (CDPF), estimated that there were 82.96 million people (6.34% of the population) with a disability.^[34] It is believed that the CDPF survey included information about the cause of disability but this information has not been made public.^[35]

Landmine/ERW Risk Education

The PLA continued to conduct mine awareness campaigns for civilians living in former disputed areas along the border with Vietnam. A Chinese official reported that these campaigns were required by the CCW and is part of a “long-term strategy” to prevent mine casualties.^[36]

Victim Assistance

While China has made progress in developing its medical and disability services, this was limited to major cities where 80% of services are located.^[37] Medical services, including emergency services, in public hospitals are subsidized and, in some cases, free of charge,^[38] but the public health system is unable to cover all the needs, and medical care remains unaffordable for low-income families.^[39]

Physical rehabilitation and physiotherapy are considered to be “luxury items.”^[40] Only one-third of persons with disabilities needing rehabilitation services receive them and only one-fifth of those in need of assistive devices have access to them.^[41] Several physical rehabilitation centers and mobility device factories in Sichuan were damaged or destroyed in the 12 May 2008 earthquake.^[42]

On 1 August 2008, China ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; it had not signed its Optional Protocol as of that date. China has improved its disability legislation to make it more in line with the UN convention.^[43] According to the US Department of State, however, implementation of applicable laws has remained insufficient,^[44] although the Chinese government increased efforts to raise awareness about disability issues in 2007–2008.^[45]

Mine/ERW survivors can benefit from the government policy towards persons with disabilities under China’s 11th Five-Year Plan (2006–2010).^[46] The Ministry of Civil Affairs is in charge of social welfare for persons with disabilities and for overseeing the manufacturing of mobility devices.^[47]

In the mine-affected Yunnan province, physical rehabilitation is provided by the Yunnan Ministry of Civil Affairs, the CDPF, and the RCSC-Yunnan (in Kunming and two repair workshops), in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).^[48] In 2007, the ICRC registered 237 new amputees, fitted 290 prostheses (22 for mine survivors) and one orthosis.^[49] Two ICRC-sponsored students graduated from the Chinese Center for Orthopedic Technologists.^[50] The ICRC planned to hand over management of the Kunming Center to the RCSC-Yunnan on 30 June 2008, while continuing to provide materials and to monitor the center’s performance. During 2007, the RCSC-Yunnan also provided 279 prostheses for amputees from areas bordering Myanmar, though the number of mine/ERW survivors among them is unknown.^[51]

In 2007, Handicap International piloted community-based rehabilitation (CBR) projects in six counties and districts in China, including areas believed to be mine-affected, but did not record the number of mine/ERW survivors assisted.^[52]

Support for Mine Action

China reported contributing a total of CNY6 million (US$789,000) in support of mine action in 2007.^[53] China provides mine action assistance abroad under a joint program started by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense in 1998.^[54] China received requests for funding for demining from the governments of Peru and Ecuador in 2007.^[55]

China has stepped up its involvement in international demining operations by sending engineers to participate in UN peacekeeping operations in Lebanon. As of April 2008, China had four 15-person teams of combat engineers (including 10 deminers/explosive ordnance disposal operators each) deployed with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as Chinbatt, operating south of the Litani River.

The first contingent, consisting of three demining teams, arrived in Lebanon in May 2006 and became operational in August 2006 after the UN Mine Action Coordination Centre South Lebanon (MACC SL) provided assistance developing CHINBATT’s standing operating procedures and training to international standards and Lebanese Technical Standards and Guidelines. The teams were trained by MACC SL for battle area clearance (BAC) in order to assist with the clearance of unexploded (cluster) submunitions. The first three teams rotated back to China in February 2007 and were replaced by four teams, also trained and accredited for BAC. They were replaced by another four teams who received accreditation in November 2007, two for BAC and two for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD). A fourth rotation was due in May 2008. China reports its engineers have cleared a total of more than 10,000 mines and ERW in Lebanon.^[56] Since their deployment, one Chinese team member was wounded during an EOD operation in November 2007. The casualty had not been certified for EOD by MACC SL.^[57] China has not reported an estimated value for these contributions.

At the 2007 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), China pledged “to continue to support and take part in the humanitarian demining operations in Africa” and “provide financial and material assistance and related training for African countries within its capacity.”^[58] China provided training for 47 deminers from Angola, Burundi, Chad, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique at the PLA Engineering Science and Technology University in Nanjing from 26 October to 24 December 2007.^[59] China also donated demining and mine detection equipment to these five countries.^[60] Twenty deminers from Sudan started a six-week training course at Nanjing in April 2008.^[61]

China also donated 10 mine detectors and 10 sets of personal protective equipment to each recipient country.^[62] China reported in-kind donations in 2006 but did not provide an estimated value for its contributions.^[63]