Can the aircraft manufacturer be considered a supplier to the cruel Burmese junta?

On September 6, the bombing of a small Burmese town on the Chinese border killed eleven civilians. It was attributed to the military junta in power since February 2021, which has been carrying out punitive operations against residents. The “systematic” air attacks against civilians have been documented by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rightswhich recorded 281 deaths in the strikes carried out between February 2021 and March 2022. The online investigative media Disclose cites the figure of 833 deaths in bombings during the first six months of the year. It also reveals the accusations made by two NGOs – Justice for Myanmar and Info Birmanie – against the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus in the arming of the junta.

Their investigation follows the trail of Chinese military aircraft used by the junta and manufactured by subsidiaries of AviChina, itself a sprawling subsidiary of Chinese aerospace and defense giant Avic (Aviation Industry Corporation of China).

Request for disengagement

AviChina is a company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, in which Airbus is a 5.03% shareholder. This “partnership”, while Burma has been subject to a European arms embargo for more than ten years, poses a problem, according to the two NGOs. They are therefore asking Airbus (and the French, Italian and Spanish states in their capacity as shareholders of the European aircraft manufacturer) to convince the Chinese giant Avic to cease “all current or planned transfers of military aircraft, weapons and equipment associated with the Burmese army”, or, failing that, to disengage from AviChina.

A Norwegian state pension fund did not hesitate to exclude AviChina from its partners in January 2023, the report highlights, for example.

An exclusively civil partnership according to Airbus

Requested by 20 MinutesAirbus states that it “has not supplied any defense products to Burma or its armed forces” and that its relations “with Chinese companies, including Avic, are fully compliant with all European and international laws and regulations, including the arms embargo in force in China.” The aircraft manufacturer finally adds that its “industrial and technological partnerships in China are exclusively focused on civil aeronautics and services.”