There are some interesting reports out there about French arms sales around the world, such as anti-tank weapons, spare parts for aircraft, and microwave technology used to disrupt American GPS satellites sold to Iraq after the UN arms embargo. I’m sure many have also seen the newspaper articles that French weapons manufactured as late as 2001 were found in large quantities in Iraq by coalition forces.
Here’s an interesting article for anyone interested on France’s contribution to the genocide in Rwanda, wherein people were slaughtered at five times the rate of Hitler’s genocide in World War II, and in which French-supplied weapons played an important role (something to be proud of there, eh Chirac?)
users.skynet.be/wihogora/McNully.pdf
Then there were the illegal arms sales to Angola and the Congo, not approved by the French parliament (which is required by law). And now the move by Chirac to lift the arms embargo on China. Projects that have already been discussed between French and Chinese arms manufacturers that they plan on collaborating on after the end of the arms embargo include nuclear submarines, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and advanced hover-craft type landing ships that would make an amphibious invasion of Taiwan much easier. This is in addition to Chinese interests in French fighter aircraft, missile guidance systems, etc. France has also shown a keen interest in opening up potentially large oil reserves in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region in northwest China (where massive human rights abuses have been committed against the Uyghur people). So much for the French being champions of human rights …