Illustration: Sun Ying

The Washington Post published an article titled "China's arms exports flooding sub-Saharan Africa" recently. It stated that China's arms exports have sharply increased over the past decade, flooding sub-Saharan Africa with cheap rifles and ammunition.

It also said that Chinese weapons have flowed into areas subject to UN sanctions like Somalia, which has intensified local conflicts, and that "China has stood apart from other major arms exporters, including Russia, for its assertive challenge to UN authority, routinely refusing to cooperate with UN arms experts."

Such accusations are groundless and irresponsible.

China does participate in the international arms trade, and especially in this century, its arms exports volume has increased. But that doesn't mean it deserves groundless accusations from Western countries, especially the US.

China's arms exports have been based on three principles: helping build the defense of the importing countries, not threatening regional and world peace, security and stability, and not interfering in importing countries' domestic affairs.

Meanwhile, China has strictly complied with relevant UN resolutions in exporting weapons. Its arms exports are legal and responsible.

Besides, the weapons China exports are mainly light and conventional weapons. They are mainly exported to countries and regions within the limits of the UN resolutions.

China has only a rather small share in the global arms market. According to the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) in 2011, China's arms trade only made up 3 percent of the global total volume in 2003-10, while the latest report by CRS for the US Congress pointed out that the US has taken a 78 percent share of the global weapon trade, a record high. This shows that China's arms exports are limited.

According to the report, US arms sales last year amounted to $66.3 billion. It is the US that dominates the world weapon market, but why does it still accuse China?

Its purpose is to obscure its own strategic intentions of arms exports.

One of the US principles of arms exports is targeting regions that could start an arms race so as to further increase the export volume.

For example, in South Asia, the US takes advantage of conflicts between India and Pakistan and exports weapons to both. The two countries constantly reach a new military balance based on US weapons. This is a typical example of how the US manipulates regional conflicts to benefit itself.

The US also promotes arms sales by intensifying regional tensions and creating regional turbulence.

In recent years, the US has enhanced military exercises in the Middle East targeted at Iran, which has forced Iran to upgrade its weapons greatly.

This breaks the regional military balance, driving countries that have a tense relationship with Iran to increase arms imports from the US.

Since the end of World War II, the US has constantly used such means to promote its arms sales.

In order to maintain global leadership, the US is aiming at establishing a global weapon system dominated by itself. It seeks various excuses to slander and suppress other countries' arms sales while promoting its own.

For example, during the Kosovo War, the US used public opinion to highlight weapons from countries like Russia appearing in the hands of Yugoslavia governmental troops. During the Afghan War, the US accused some countries of exporting weapons to terror groups.

By doing so, the US was aiming at damaging relevant countries' reputations and hitting their arms sales. But at the same time, it increased its own weapons exports.

Currently, with an increasing number of countries importing weapons from the US, a global weapon system dominated by the US has been gradually formed. This will help US arms sales steadily rise every year and will support the US hegemony.

The author is a professor at the PLA University of National Defense. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn