Original: housha source wechat official account: housha has been authorized to reprint
Many countries in the world are worried about money. Sri Lanka went bankrupt because of the insolvency of $51billion in foreign debt, and the whole society fell into collapse.
However, some countries are worried about how to spend money. Saudi Arabia is the most typical representative.
For rich people, what worries them more than how to spend money is how to get a sense of security. I’m afraid of being robbed when I go out, and I’m afraid of being stolen when I sleep.
Saudi Arabia is in the Middle East with frequent wars, and its desire for security is stronger than others.
In the 1970s, because of the Arab Israeli conflict, two oil crises broke out. The soaring oil price made Saudi Arabia rich. As long as they could buy something with money, they would try it. The biggest buyer of the latest and most luxurious private aircraft and private yachts in the world must be the Saudi royal family.
Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932, covering an area of 2.25 million square kilometers. The legitimacy of the royal family comes from the guardianship of the two “holy cities” (Mecca and Medina). In essence, it is an agricultural country.
In the Roosevelt era, Saudi Arabia formed a special relationship with the United States – the United States provided security protection and Saudi Arabia provided oil resources.
Therefore, Saudi Arabia completely followed the United States in its foreign policy. In 1957, it established diplomatic relations with the Taiwan authorities. Its trade with Chinese Mainland was intermittent, and the transaction volume was not large. China exported grain and oil, textiles, and light industrial products to Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabia exported crude oil and chemical fertilizers to China. Before the 1980s, the trade volume was less than US $100million
1980: $150million.
1985: $110million.
1990: $290million.
In addition to these public data, there is a large list of $3.5 billion that has not been counted, that is, the arms sales project.
CCTV broadcast a message in the news of the NPC session on April 6, 1988: “Chinese Foreign Minister Wu Xueqian’s statement: at the request of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Chinese government has sold some non nuclear conventional surface to surface missiles. The Saudi government promised not to transfer or use these missiles first, and they will be used exclusively for defense purposes.”
This surprised the western media, because this news confirmed the speculation of the Washington Post in March, but how could the American media know this? That can only be revealed by American intelligence agencies.
After the Chinese side confirmed this, Saudi Arabia was not worried about being sanctioned by the United States at all, and was also very happy. What the local tyrants wanted was this deterrent effect. The money of the big killer town should not be spent in vain.
However, the Saudi military really disclosed the “dongfeng-3” missile in 2014, which shows that Saudi Arabia is likely to have obtained more advanced strategic weapons, and the sense of security is very important.
Usually, China established diplomatic relations with other countries first, followed by military cooperation, with the exception of Saudi Arabia.
Why did Saudi Arabia find China?
On September 6, 1965, a war broke out between India and Pakistan over the Kashmir issue. The Indian army’s “Delhi umbrella” operation mobilized more than 50% of the country’s troops to storm Pakistan.
The Pakistani army has been losing ground, while the “ally” the United States has adopted a neutral attitude. Saudi Arabia, as a strategic partner of Pakistan, is in the eye and anxious in the heart.
Just as Lahore, a strategic city of Pakistan, was about to fall, in mid September, China issued an ultimatum to India, which was published on the front page of the people’s daily.
In the face of China sending troops to attack the Indian army, India agreed to all the requirements of China (demolition of fortifications, return of looting, etc.), gave up the Lahore military plan, and on September 23, India Pakistan truce.
This made Saudi King Faisal feel the strength of China and the hypocrisy of the United States.
Since then, Saudi official documents no longer use the word “Red China” and are called the people’s Republic of China.
In the 1970s, Saudi Arabia became rich and became increasingly tough on Israel. On March 25, 1975, King Faisal was shot and killed by his mentally ill nephew. On June 18, the murderer was beheaded, and the case became a pending case.
In this way, Saudi Arabia became moderate to Israel, but in 1979, the fall of Shah Pahlavi of Iran, the power of Shia leader Khomeini, and the sudden tension in the Middle East.
Originally, although Saudi Arabia and Iran have constant contradictions, they are both the Middle East pillars of the United States, and the two countries can live in peace. Iran has become the sworn enemy of the United States, so Saudi Arabia’s sense of insecurity has become extremely serious.
After the outbreak of the Iran Iraq war, although Saudi Arabia secretly supported Saddam’s Iraq, in Saddam’s eyes, feudal Saudi Arabia was not worthy to become the leader of Arab countries.
Under the multiple threats from Iran, Iran, Israel and Shia forces, Saudi Arabia is extremely eager to obtain strategic weapons that can contain the Middle East.
In 1985, Saudi Arabia proposed to purchase 48 F15 fighters with auxiliary fuel tanks from the Reagan administration, which was rejected by the U.S. Congress due to the opposition of the Jewish group. Another plan to buy “spear” surface to surface missiles was rejected.
In 1986, Saudi Arabia began to purchase weapons from Britain, France, West Germany, Spain and even Brazil, but did not dare to buy weapons from the Soviet Union, because it would cause serious political problems.
But western countries cannot meet Saudi Arabia’s security needs. What weapons does Saudi Arabia want?
1? Take it out and you’ll be scared to death. You don’t have to beep more with people;
2? To boost Saudi Arabia’s morale, we must pull the wind and blind others’ eyes;
3? The enemy can only wait for the corpse to be collected;
4? The seller will not attach political conditions.
The local tyrants can only consult with China, and China is not restricted by the Sino Soviet missile defense treaty.
Money is not a problem, and there is no doubt about the sincerity of procurement. The key is how Saudi Arabia realizes this dream?
At that time, the United States completely did not know that Saudi Arabia had this bold idea. The Saudi royal family entrusted this secret and important task to Prince Sultan, the commander of the air defense force, code named “Peregrine Falcon”.
The first person to come to Beijing for secret talks was Prince Bandar, the ambassador to the United States, who first confirmed China’s intention to sell the “Dongfeng 3” medium range missile. China agrees in principle and supports the liberation cause of the Arab people!
In 1986, deputy chief Cao went to Saudi Arabia to discuss this project in detail, at an air force base in the south of Saudi Arabia.
In February, 1987, Saudi Arabia organized a delegation to China. Prince Sultan led a delegation to visit Malaysia first, and then entered China after a round trip.
The Chinese side arranged for Saudi representatives to go to the missile base of the Second Artillery Corps at that time and let them watch the process of launching DF3 from the cavern and then executing the launch procedure.
The Saudi representative was very excited and placed an order immediately. As the value is as high as 3.5 billion US dollars, China’s foreign exchange reserves at that time were only about 2billion US dollars. China is also worried that Saudi Arabia can’t pay in cash, and asked whether they want to pay in instalments?
The local tyrants were unhappy, “who are you scolding? Who are you scolding? Cash and cash, not a penny is not enough for you.” In fact, Saudi Arabia’s budget is 8billion US dollars. I want to buy more.
Therefore, China feels that it has made a lot of money, and Saudi Arabia also feels that it is worth it.
In the second half of 1987, China and Saudi Arabia signed a contract. Saudi Arabia purchased 35 DF3 medium range missiles from China (called CSS2 in the west, with a range of 2650 kilometers, which can be more than 3000 kilometers after improvement), and 15 people operate mobile launchers. China is responsible for guiding the construction of missile launch sites and training operators and maintenance personnel. Pro, praise!
DF3 has a range covering the whole Middle East. China has also equipped Saudi Arabia with a two ton special conventional warhead to help your dream grow wings.
Next, there is the issue of shipping. The Saudi receiving port has been fully camouflaged and heavily guarded around. At the same time, the sulai Leyi base was built in a hurry to arrange the lives of Chinese technicians. Now it is a prosperous city in the south of Shatt.
Due to the careful deployment of both parties, the delivery plan was successfully completed.
How to intimidate the Middle East is a very delicate thing when the baby is in hand:
1? It should be kept secret. Before November, 1988, it’s best not to let others know, because the operation is not skilled, and it’s not impossible in case someone jumps over the wall to bomb.
2? Next autumn, we must let others know.
The greatest value of strategic missiles lies in deterrence, not fighting, which is in line with Saudi Arabia’s attitude of showing off. I want people to know, but I don’t want people to know too early.
When the magic skill is practiced and the artifact is in hand, you can point at your opponents and say: everyone here is scum.
With such important military cooperation, the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Saudi Arabia is no longer a problem.
In July, 1990, Prince Bandar visited China again to discuss the establishment of diplomatic relations.
On July 20, when Foreign Minister Qian Qichen visited Riyadh, Saudi Arabia announced that it would cut off relations with the Taiwan authorities. China and Saudi Arabia announced the establishment of diplomatic relations on July 21.
Although the price of this large arms bill of $3.5 billion is indeed higher, it can not only count the cost of missiles. China is also taking diplomatic risks, which must be included in the cost.
Saudi Arabia gets a sense of security.
In August, 1990, Saddam Hussein’s 100000 troops annexed Kuwait, and the sharp edge was close to the eastern border of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia urgently started the combat readiness procedures of suleil base and targeted several DF3 at Baghdad. Saddam immediately calmed down.
The effect is excellent. If there is a military conflict with Iraq, is this something that can be solved with $3.5 billion?
In the 10 years from 1994 to 2004, Saudi Arabia purchased another 120 DF3 from China. Now there are rumors that Saudi Arabia has also purchased new missiles.
Large military purchase orders are not only a link for Saudi Arabia to maintain relations with major countries, but also a diplomatic means.
For China, it is no accident to get this first pot of gold. This is a demonstration of the military industrial strength of a large country. Without the industrialization foundation vigorously built after 1949, there will be no later story.
However, those countries that boast will only blindly increase the risk of war in the Middle East. Last year, they scolded others as “murderers”. This year, they hit the “murderers”, talking about peace and cooperation in their mouths, but thinking of excluding China in their hearts is not too humiliating.
The Chinese people have made every step by themselves.
“Dongfeng express” is an important force to maintain world peace.