The world’s largest manufacturer of airplanes, Airbus, is continuing – if not deepening – its partnership with the Chinese aerospace giant that is a major supplier of military aircraft as well as weapons to Myanmar’s junta, despite its escalating war crimes, according to a report released today.
Myanmar regime has launched indiscriminate bloody airstrikes against civilians when responding to the nationwide anti-junta resistance following the military takeover in 2021.
The airstrikes against civilians in Myanmar surged fivefold between November 2023 and March 2024.
The 37-page report – “#Airbusted” – compiled by two human rights groups, Justice for Myanmar and France-based Info Birmanie – relies on publicly available information, including United Nations reports, leaked documents and other sources to expose the links between Airbus and Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and recommends what Airbus should do to reduce AVIC’s complicity in war crimes in Myanmar.
It should either pressure its partner to stop supplying a junta committing war crimes or disengage from it if it fails to do so.
Airbus is a pan-European conglomerate that says it is “Pioneering sustainable aerospace for a safe and united world.”
“#Airbusted” notes that it is well-known that Airbus partner AVIC and its subsidiaries are “supplying fighter jets, combat aircraft, and military transport aircraft to the Myanmar military, which are being used in indiscriminate bombings of civilians.”
“Despite AVIC’s clear role in arming Myanmar’s brutal junta, Airbus has not only maintained but increased its investment in and collaboration with AVIC-controlled companies,” a press release accompanying the report said.
“This continues even as other investors have withdrawn due to AviChina’s links to transfers of military aircraft and weapons to the Myanmar junta,” it adds.
Three of Airbus’s major shareholders are the French, Spanish and German governments, all of which have publicly condemned the Feb.1, 2021 coup in Myanmar as well as the war crimes that followed it.
“While these governments have publicly condemned the Myanmar military’s crimes and committed to stopping arms flows, they appear to be, at least, silent regarding Airbus’s continued collaboration with AVIC behind the scenes,” the report says.
Yadanar Maung, a spokesperson for Justice for Myanmar said: “Airbus has been turning a blind eye to AVIC’s dirty deals with the brutal Myanmar military for too long.”
“With ongoing credible documentation and reporting at the UN of the human rights crisis in Myanmar, Airbus must have known that its key business partner AVIC is supplying aircraft, weapons and ongoing technical maintenance services to the junta in Myanmar,” she added.
Johanna Chardonnieras, coordinator for Info Birmanie, called for the European states that have stakes in Airbus to take action: “The French, Spanish and German governments have a responsibility and a duty to act when Airbus’ partner and investee is linked [to] war crimes.”
AVIC’s Links to the junta and Airbus
AVIC is a Chinese state-owned aerospace and defense conglomerate with hundreds of domestic and international subsidiaries. It is one of the largest arms companies in the world. It raises funds from international investors through its Hong Kong-listed unit AviChina Industry & Technology Company Limited (AviChina).
On its website, AviChina describes Airbus “as a strategic shareholder.” The European company, headquartered in the Netherlands, is its second-largest shareholder, according to “#AIRBUSTED.” It owns a 5 percent stake in the company, which has about 71,000 employees, according to the Financial Times.
Besides its stake in AVIC’s HK-listed unit, Airbus also has partnerships with AVIC subsidiaries and related companies that supply military aircraft to the junta, and conducts joint research with some of them.
Airbus Helicopters partners with China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) for the design of its light utility helicopter, the EC120 Colibri, “#AirBusted” notes, adding that AVIC subsidiary Harbin Aircraft Industry Group (HAIG) is also a partner in the design of the helicopter.
The report says CATIC has supplied fighter jets, combat aircraft and military transport aircraft to the junta’s military, with the most recent confirmed delivery in 2022 when the regime’s airstrikes on civilians were on the rise.
AVIC subsidiary Guizhou Aviation 20 Industries Corporation (GAIC) is also a supplier of military aircraft to the junta, most notably its FTC 2000G aircraft which it began delivering to the junta in November 2022. The FTC 2000G can carry up to three tonnes of missiles, rockets or bombs for airstrikes, according to a report in the China Daily cited in “#Airbusted.”
The report includes photos showing six of the aircraft being displayed at the Myanmar Air Force’s 75th anniversary in December 2022, alongside other aircraft manufactured by AVIC subsidiaries. It also includes a leaked document putting a USD$231,600,000 price tag on the deal between the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Air Force and representatives of CATIC.
Airbus is also linked to the junta’s use of the Y-12 aircraft for airstrikes on civilians.The Y-12 is manufactured by HAIG, a partner of Airbus in the design of EC120 Colibri helicopter. The two companies also co-produce the AC352 helicopter, “#Airbusted” notes, adding that HAIG is owned by AviChina – the HK-listed unit of AVIC that describes Airbus as its strategic investor.
Not a secret
The links between Myanmar’s air force and Airbus’s partners in China are unlikely to be unknown to Airbus, the report suggests.
Numerous UN and media reports, including junta-controlled media, have confirmed that AVIC is selling the junta aircraft, training its pilots and providing spare parts and maintenance to keep the aircraft flying.
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund excluded AviChina from its potential investment list in January last year, saying it presented an “unacceptable risk” because it was selling “weapons to a state that uses these weapons in ways that constitute serious and systematic breaches of the international rules on the conduct of hostilities.”
Publicly, Airbus has said it is only involved in China’s civilian aviation industry, but a 2022 report by Horizon Advisory disagreed. The report, cited by “#Airbusted” found that the “Airbus-China engagement entails significant ties to China’s military and military-civil fusion apparatus, including in the form of supply dependencies, technology sharing, and research and development cooperation.”
Justice for Myanmar and Info Birmanie say they gave Airbus an opportunity to respond to their investigation. That invitation was delivered on April 29. As key shareholders in Airbus, the governments of France, Germany and Spain received the same invitation on the same day.
More than four months later, they have yet to say a single word.
“Airbus and its state shareholders must end the flow of arms from AVIC to the genocidal Myanmar military, or ensure Airbus ends its business with AVIC for good,” Justice for Myanmar’s Yadanar Maung said.
“How can we take the condemnations of Spain, Germany, and France [of war crimes in Myanmar] seriously, if they have investments that sustain the junta in Myanmar?” she asks.
