LOCATION: Myanmar
RELATIONSHIP: AviChina Industry and Technology (AviChina) is part of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the corporate group that developed the JF-17 jet fighter used by the Myanmar military. AviChina has provided $293 million dollars to AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group to help improve its defense and aviation equipment. AVIC Chengdu owns 50% of a joint venture with the Pakistan Air Force that built, tested and sold JF-17 fighter jets to the Myanmar Military. Aviation Industry Corporation of China is included on Burma Campaign UK’s Dirty List.

IMPACT ON COMMUNITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Myanmar’s military has a well-documented history of human rights violations, including crimes against humanity. Beginning in 2016, Myanmar’s military launched a campaign of massacres and ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people in western Myanmar, which officials from the UN and 57 countries have labeled a genocide. The UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar called onc businesses and investors to cut ties with the military. In 2021, the military violently took control of the country, imprisoning much of the civilian leadership. In response to the ensuing protests and marches calling for democracy, the military and its allies have killed more than 4,000 civilians.

RESOURCES

Find more information on AviChina’s ties to the project here.