Argentine President Milley once again made a surprising statement, first declaring that he would "recover the Falklands" through diplomatic channels, and then made conditions to China and the United States respectively, suggesting that Argentina would be on the side of China and the United States if they could help return the Falklands to Argentina.
Milley's attitude toward China is very confusing: during his election campaign, he made wild remarks about China, claiming that after he was elected, Argentina would stand on the side of "democratic countries", cut off all trade with China, and not join the BRICS; however, after a few months in power, the Argentine economy fell into a state of "shock therapy" chaos, and reality taught him that his attitude towards China began to change.
Not long ago, Milley said that Argentina would continue to conduct normal trade with China, and hoped that China would continue to carry out currency swaps with Argentina.
Turning back to the "recovery of the Malvinas Islands," Milley made a condition to the United States that the two countries would build a joint naval base near the Falklands, and to China promised to resume all trade and agreements with China. There is a further implication of his remarks, which is that if the United States cannot help Argentina achieve its goals, he will go to China for help.
(Millay is always surprising)
Presumably, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also observing and confirming this transformation and all sorts of astonishing remarks about Milley. This is because Milley's election as president was himself to win a large number of votes by inciting populism in the country, and the issue of the Malvinas Islands is a pain in the heart of populism in Argentina. The political nature of Milley's far-right makes it necessary to take a tough line on territorial issues, or risk losing the support of populist voters in the country.
(The British garrison on the Malvinas Islands is not large)
The Malvinas Islands are just over 600 kilometres from the Argentine mainland and more than 12,000 kilometres from the British mainland, but they became a British colony, and the two countries quarreled until the Anglo-Argentine War broke out in 1982. This was the first modern naval and air war fought by mankind after World War II, and although Argentina was weaker than Britain in terms of military strength, it still had the geographical advantage to fight at home, and fought well.
In particular, the "Exocet" anti-ship missile launched by the Argentine Air Force's French "Super Flag" attack aircraft sank and damaged many British Royal Navy ships, including the sinking of the Sheffield, one of the most advanced destroyers in the world at that time, shocking the world.
However, what humiliated Argentina was that under the pressure of the United States, Britain's hardcore ally, the French government seized a batch of Exocet anti-ship missiles ordered by Argentina, resulting in the Argentine Air Force never posing any threat to the British fleet coming from afar after firing the few Exocet missiles on hand, and the result of the war was that Argentina lost and Britain won.
Britain has since effectively controlled the Malvinas Islands, but the Argentine government and public opinion have never given up their claim to the Malvinas Islands, often comparing them to China's repossession of Hong Kong.
(The American-made A-4 Skyhawk attack aircraft, which was technologically advanced in the sixties of the last century, was the main force of the Argentine Air Force)
But the problem is that the world speaks with strength, and if you do not have the ability to use force to regain territory, it is simply impossible to resolve the territorial issue through negotiations. China was able to peacefully recover Hong Kong through negotiations with Britain because China would be able to defeat Britain if it fought on its doorstep, but what about Argentina?
Argentina's military strength is now far from that of Britain than it was in 1982. The British military also has 2 large aircraft carriers, 37 F-35B fighters and 137 Typhoon fighters.
However, the Argentine Air Force currently does not have fighter planes, and its main fighters are only 24 second-hand American-made A-4 "Skyhawk" attack planes, which are the technology of the United States in the 60s of the last century and were modernized and upgraded at the end of the 90s; the Argentine Navy has three 3,600-ton corvettes and six 1,700-ton corvettes, but they cannot be compared with those 45-class destroyers of the United Kingdom.
At present, the British garrison on the Malvinas Islands is small, with only four Typhoon fighters (still in the early type, not equipped with AESA radar) and a River-class patrol boat, as well as a number of land forces. However, the Argentine Air Force may not be able to deal with these four Typhoon fighters with its current equipment, not to mention that as in 1982, Britain can mobilize a large number of fighters and warships from the mainland at any time.
The most important thing is that the main equipment of the Argentine Navy and Air Force is made by the United States and European countries, and once a war breaks out between Argentina and Britain, the United States will, like last time, make the Argentine army have no ammunition to fight, and even fighter planes will not be able to take off.
(The United States has set its sights on China's space tracking and control station in Argentina's Neuquén province and demanded that the Milley government dismantle it)
Originally, Argentina had a chance to solve the problem of the backwardness of the British army, but the Milley government gave up on it. The former Argentine government has been inspecting the JF-17 Thunder Block III fighter produced jointly by China and Pakistan for several years, which is equipped with AESA radar and a variety of air, sea, and ground attack missiles, and is capable of competing with Britain's early Typhoon fighters and posing a deadly threat to Britain's warships from afar.
However, in order to curry favor with the United States, the Milley government has given up the purchase of the Thunder and instead purchased 24 second-hand F-16 fighters retired from the Danish Air Force under the coordination of the United States. This is to put his life in the hands of the United States again. How could the United States allow Argentina to use these fighters against Britain?
China has always supported the Argentine government on the issue of the Malvinas Islands and does not recognize British sovereignty over the Falklands. But Milley's proposal this time is indeed too whimsical for China to intervene in the territorial dispute between the two countries. Moreover, the trade between China and Argentina was unilaterally sabotaged by Milley first, and it was not enough for Milley to use it again as a quid pro quo with China.
What's more, the U.S. government recently slandered the space tracking and control station built by China in Argentina's Neuquén province as being directly operated by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and demanded that the Argentine government dismantle the station. Although this space tracking and control station is not very important, and the Brazilian government has long agreed to provide a site for us to build, once Milley agrees to the US government's request, it will definitely completely destroy Sino-Arab relations, and counting on China to help Argentina economically and politically will definitely come to naught.
The news has just come out that Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino will visit China at the end of April. Now it's up to Milley to choose.