China-US relations: Despite sharp divide on major issues, Congress largely agrees on China - because heavy lobby Arms industry

Despite sharp divisions on most major issues, congressional Democrats and Republicans agree on at least one way to deal with China.

President Joe Biden signed into law just before Christmas a bipartisan bill banning goods from China’s Xinjiang region unless companies can prove they aren’t made with forced labor. The House and Senate unanimously passed the measure earlier this month, showing the parties are largely aligned on China policy.

“The United States will not standby as the Chinese Communist Party commits genocide against the Uyghurs. Our bipartisan Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, now law, will help keep China accountable by ensuring no goods made with Uyghur slave labor are sold in American markets,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said in a tweet.

Read more at https://www.deseret.com/utah/2021/12/28/22857023/despite-sharp-divide-congress-agrees-china-human-rights-uyghurs-genocide-joe-biden-mitt-romney

Global Arms IIndustry

The sales of arms and military services by the SIPRI Top 100—the world’s 100 largest arms-producing and military services companies (excluding China, ranked by their arms sales—totalled $402 billion in 2013.

This is a decrease of 2.0 per cent in real terms compared to Top 100 revenues in 2012, continuing the decline that started in 2011, but at a slower rate. Despite three consecutive years of decreasing sales for the Top 100, total revenues remain 45.5 per cent higher in real terms than for the Top 100 in 200.

North America and Western Europe continue to dominate the global arms industry and comprised 69 of the Top 100 companies for 2013. They accounted for 84.2 per cent of the total arms sales of the Top 100.

Fact Sheet Top100 2013.pdf

Arms Industry: Rise in international arms transfers is driven by Asian demand, says SIPRI

Missile

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported that Asia and Oceania accounted for 44 per cent of global arms imports, followed by Europe (19 per cent), the Middle East (17 per cent), the Americas (11 per cent) and Africa (9 per cent).

India was the world’s largest recipient of arms, accounting for 10 per cent of global arms imports. The four next largest recipients of arms in 2007–2011 were South Korea (6 per cent of arms transfers), Pakistan (5 per cent), China (5 per cent) and Singapore (4 per cent).

The five biggest suppliers of major conventional weapons in the period 2007–11 were the United States, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The USA and Russia remained by far the largest exporters, accounting for 30 per cent and 24 per cent of all exports, respectively. The top 5 suppliers accounted for 75 per cent of exports of major conventional weapons in the period 2007–11, compared with 78 per cent for the same five suppliers in the period 2002–2006.

The Amnesty International Rights group reports that in the five years preceding the Arab spring $2.4bn worth of small arms, tear gas, armored vehicles and other security equipment was sold to five specified countries that have faced or are facing popular uprisings - Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen.

And these sales were committed by at least 20 governments including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the UK and the US.

EU-Digest