Recently, it was reported that Saudi Arabia's defense minister and commander of the Strategic Missile Forces had visited China one after another.
This means that Saudi Arabia actually wants to further strengthen comprehensive military cooperation with China.
But in fact, China has given maximum support to the development of Saudi Arabia's military power.
We also sold 80 J-10C fighters to them.
Although this news has not been recognized, it shows that Saudi Arabia and China still have a very close military cooperation.
Even if we don't talk about fighter jets, China has sold ballistic missiles to Saudi Arabia in the past.
Now, with the continuous improvement of China's comprehensive national strength and influence, some Middle Eastern media even hope that Saudi Arabia can form a military alliance with China, and if necessary, let China help them form an army that uses completely Chinese-style equipment.
So, what's going on here?
1. The relationship between China and Saudi Arabia is very good
To understand why the Saudi media is so concerned about China-Saudi relations, we need to look at what the relationship between the two countries is.
In fact, the relationship between China and Saudi Arabia is very good, because the two countries themselves are complementary in trade.
As the world's largest manufacturing country and a major industrial country, China needs to consume a lot of natural resources every year.
And a considerable part of these resources come from Saudi Arabia, and these resources are the well-known oil.
Saudi Arabia is the world's most important oil producer and producer, so the relationship between China and Saudi Arabia has always been very close.
China is also one of Saudi Arabia's most important financiers.
In trade between China and Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arabia is able to reap huge benefits.
Therefore, they also attach great importance to the development of relations with China, after all, no one will offend their financiers.
In addition to economic cooperation, there are also many possibilities for cooperation between the two countries at the strategic level.
After all, China attaches great importance to cooperative relations with Middle Eastern countries, and China hopes that Middle Eastern countries can get rid of the status quo of being controlled by the United States, have more independence and sovereignty, and can develop better.
In China's Belt and Road Initiative, it is also said to maintain cooperation with the Middle East.
Saudi Arabia happens to be one of the most influential countries in the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia is also one of the controlling countries of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Therefore, the development of ties with Saudi Arabia is also an important basis for the mainland to implement its strategic plan in the Middle East.
In order to maintain peace in the Middle East and continue to pursue the mainland's Middle East strategy, we have also facilitated the reconciliation of Saudi Arabia and Iran, two old rivals in the Middle East.
With China's help, diplomatic relations between the two countries have been restored.
Then, with such close economic and political relations, it is also necessary to consider the issue of military cooperation.
Moreover, the countries of the Middle East themselves are in great need of other countries to provide them with security protection, and this has to start with the special status of the Middle East.
2. The chaotic Middle East
Theoretically, all countries in the Middle East share similar religious beliefs, and most of them share historical friendships.
In reality, however, there are contradictions among the countries of the Middle East.
This, coupled with the fact that some countries with ill intentions have been supporting local armed forces here, has led to a very bad security situation in the Middle East.
Even major countries in the Middle East, such as Saudi Arabia, are always subject to various threats to their national defense and security.
As a result, the countries of the Middle East are particularly in need of security, but they are not capable of building a strong military force on their own.
After all, the development of the countries of the Middle East mainly depends on the trade of resources, and they can earn enough money by selling oil and natural gas, and there is no need to go to great lengths to develop industry.
In addition, the countries of the Middle East are indeed not suitable for industrial development, and the regions of the Middle East countries are full of desert wastelands and serious lack of water sources.
With the exception of a few coastal cities, there is no possibility of large-scale industrial development, which has led to the fact that the countries of the Middle East have always relied on the major powers for security.
During the Cold War, some Middle Eastern countries, such as Iran, Iraq, Syria and other countries, received a lot of weapons from the Soviet Union.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, countries in the Middle East maintained cooperative relations with the United States one after another.
Saudi Arabia in particular.
The relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States is very close, and the relationship between the two countries is so good that Saudi Arabia can even sell weapons from the United States that the American military is in active service, which is a treatment that many other countries do not enjoy.
Relations between many European countries and the United States have not been so good, but it is true that the United States is providing security protection for Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia.
But the problem is that this protection comes at a cost, and the United States and Middle Eastern countries have reached a petrodollar agreement.
To put it simply, Middle Eastern countries can only use the dollar as a currency when buying and selling oil, and Middle Eastern countries have helped the United States establish the petrodollar system.
Using oil, the world's largest commodity, the United States established its dollar hegemony.
The United States, in turn, provides security protection for countries in the Middle East.
However, the establishment of a petrodollar system is not necessarily a good thing for Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia.
Because using the dollar means that they have to accept the hegemony of the United States, the United States can also manipulate and influence their politics through its economic and monetary influence on the countries of the Middle East.
In addition, the United States still has a huge military presence in the Middle East, which has led to a large number of Middle Eastern countries simply not having the ability to compete with the United States.
To put it mildly, they have to do whatever the United States says.
But now the United States' global influence is declining, but China is rapidly rising.
Therefore, in order to get rid of dependence on the United States, countries in the Middle East have begun to strengthen cooperation with China.
And you don't have to worry about being cheated when you cooperate with China.
After all, China does not want to sign any petrodollar agreements with Middle Eastern countries, and China does not want to establish a world hegemony similar to that of the United States.
So, if the Middle Eastern countries can really convince China to provide them with security protection, like the Middle Eastern countries export a large number of weapons and equipment, they can not only stabilize their national defense, but also allow them to find a backer to counterbalance the influence of the United States.
Besides, isn't China also promoting the development of arms trade?
In some of the previous defense exhibitions, we also launched our own synthetic brigade program.
To put it simply, it is to directly export a system of supporting weapons to certain countries in need, and help them form a composite brigade with extremely modern combat capabilities.
At that time, news came out that Saudi Arabia and other countries did have ideas about China's synthetic brigade.
Therefore, after the visit of the senior military officials on the Saudi side to China, there will be Middle Eastern media who hope that China can provide help to Saudi Arabia and give them some combat units that completely use Chinese equipment.
This means that I am afraid that in the eyes of some Middle Eastern countries, we have a higher status than the United States, after all, they are only buying American weapons, but they do not say that the United States will help them build a military force hand in hand.
This is the collateral reaction of China's rising comprehensive national and military strength.
3. China attaches importance to military cooperation with other countries
As far as China is concerned, of course, we attach great importance to military exchanges with other countries.
China has indeed exported a lot of military equipment to some countries, and we have also helped Pakistan build frigates, and J-10 fighter jets have also been sold to Pakistan.
Moreover, China is now in a stage of rapid development, and some old weapons and equipment can indeed be considered for export to those countries in need when the PLA is no longer usable.
For example, some weapons and equipment exported to countries in the Middle East.
The early version of the J-10 fighter was already an old equipment for the PLA Air Force, but in the world, it can be regarded as an advanced weapon.
So if we really sell the J-10C to Saudi Arabia, they will definitely welcome it, after all, there are only a few countries that really have the ability to design and build fighters of the fourth generation or above.
Moreover, after selling these weapons, it will also be beneficial to China.
Over the past 20 years, we have invested a lot of resources in the military-technical level.
Moreover, with sufficient resources, China's military science and technology can develop so quickly.
However, the original Chinese arms were almost internal digestion, that is, the PLA placed orders for arms enterprises.
As a result, the military-industrial complex is moving within China, which is not a good thing in the long run.
But if we can take some equipment that we don't need, we can also export it to the international market at a higher price.
Relying on the money earned from these arms and equipment, we can continue to promote the positive development of China's military industry and design equipment for the PLA to provide more advanced weapons.
And the arms trade itself will bring huge benefits.
Otherwise, the United States, Russia, and other countries would not have exported their arms to the international community in large quantities.
At the same time, the establishment of stable arms trade cooperation with Middle Eastern countries also means that our influence in the Middle East has also been expanded.
This is also a choice that is in line with China's interests, and we attach great importance to cooperation with Middle Eastern countries.
Therefore, I also hope that this time, the Saudi military top brass can get what they want when they visit China.
In the future, weapons and equipment from China will also support the territorial defense of Middle Eastern countries.
epilogue
In the past, the mainland also wanted to export a large number of weapons and equipment, but at that time it did not have this ability, after all, we could only export some weapons that were not very advanced, such as assault rifles, artillery, rocket artillery, and so on.
Because at that time, the level of military equipment of the PLA itself was not high.
But after decades of development, the situation is very different now.
China's military science and technology have developed enormously, and China's military industry is now able to not only meet the PLA's arms needs, but also be able to export a small amount of weapons and equipment to countries in need.
It is also one of the evidences of China's rapid rise.
Resources:
Military sub-plane2024-06-27 80 J-10C is not enough? Local media named names and hoped that China would help Saudi Arabia build a Chinese armed army
Elegant pen and ink2024-06-29J-10C Thunder is not enough, the Middle East media named names, hoping that China will help Saudi Arabia build a Chinese armed army
Qing Gardenia2024-06-28 Foreign media are sour now, it's not enough to buy 80 J-10Cs? Saudi Arabia also wants to form a Chinese armament army