On 2 August 1990, Iraq's 200,000-strong army crossed the border into Kuwait and successfully occupied the whole of Kuwait in just one day under the cover of only 2,000 tanks. Next, 100,000 Iraqi troops quickly approached eastern Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi military urgently activated combat readiness measures at the Sulaiil base and quickly transferred a batch of DF-3 missiles to the launch pad. According to Prince Sultan, commander of the Saudi Air Defense Force, it was the deterrent power of the "Dongfeng-3 missile" at that time that made Saddam Hussein afraid of Saudi Arabia and did not dare to act rashly.
On August 2, 1990, Iraq's 200,000-strong troops crossed the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border, and under the cover of 2,000 tanks, the Iraqi army occupied the entire territory of Kuwait in just one day. Immediately afterward, 100,000 Iraqi troops approached eastern Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia maintains good relations with the United States, so why did Saudi Arabia not choose to buy missiles from the United States? At that time, the "Dongfeng-3" missiles were considered to be a powerful weapon of the country, so why did the mainland choose to sell them to Saudi Arabia? What impact will the Sino-Saudi missile deal have on the development of the two countries?
In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 181, which decided to implement the partition of Palestine, stipulating that the British mandate of Palestine would be terminated by 1 August 1948. The resolution proposes the establishment of two States on Palestinian land, the Arab State and the Jewish State.
According to the resolution, the Arab State occupies only 43 per cent of the total territory of Palestine, and most of the area is barren and fragmented, consisting mainly of hills and deserts. In contrast, the Jewish state, although less than one-third of its total population, owns 57% of the entire territory, and most of it is located on the coast and the land is fertile.
The partiality of the Jews in the resolution caused dissatisfaction among the Arab countries, which considered it extremely unfair. This contradiction is an important reason for the turbulence of the situation in the Middle East. Subsequently, the news of Israel's declaration of statehood spread all over the world and was supported by Europe and the United States.
In May 1948, the Soviet Union also announced its recognition of Israel. During World War II, the Jews experienced great suffering and longed for a country of their own, but the establishment of a state at the expense of the interests of the Arabs led to the intensification of religious, ethnic, and interest contradictions in the Middle East.
The Saudi king once said: "If the Germans slaughtered the Jews, they should set aside a place for them on German soil, so why harm the interests of the Palestinian people, who have nothing to do with the suffering of the Jews?"
On June 4, 1982, the Israeli Air Force invaded Lebanon, triggering the Fifth Middle East War, and the situation in the Middle East was once again volatile. At that time, Saudi Arabia, as a major power in the Middle East, was worried about the current situation.
Saudi Arabia has the world's leading oil reserves, and has become a "rich and flowing" country through oil sales, but its military strength is relatively weak. Faced with tensions, the wealthy Saudi King Fahd realized that only having powerful weapons could ensure national security.
In search of a strategic deterrent weapon to boost the morale of the military, Saudi Arabia has set its sights on missiles. In the Iran-Iraq war, the Soviet-style P-17 tactical missile showed a huge effect, shocked NATO countries and aroused the interest of Saudi Arabia.
However, since the Saudis were allies of the United States, the purchase of weapons from the Soviet Union was bound to cause dissatisfaction with the United States. Although Saudi Arabia had asked the United States to purchase "Lance" ballistic missiles, because the oil crisis in the Arab countries in 1973 dealt a major blow to the United States, the United States preferred to maintain a relatively weak Saudi Arabia, which became the consensus of American political circles.
Although the Saudis are allies of the United States, they did not expect that the United States would reject even a tactical surface missile with a range of only 120 kilometers. This is reminiscent of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, when the United States sold weapons to Iran, and now the United States has said no to this simple request from Saudi Arabia, leaving Saudi Arabia with no choice but to look for other ways out.
At that time, faced with an impasse in cooperation with the United States and the Soviet Union, Sha had no choice but to look to China. At that time, China was the only country outside the United States and the Soviet Union that had the ability to produce ballistic missiles on its own. What's more, China supplied weapons to Iraq and Iran during the Iran-Iraq war, and both countries eventually expressed their gratitude to China.
Although Saudi Arabia and China did not have diplomatic relations at that time, and there was not much contact between the two sides, considering China's righteous actions in the Indo-Pakistani war, Saudi Arabia's impression of China has changed a lot.
Looking back at the Indo-Pakistani war, Pakistan was in danger of losing its country after the United States announced an arms embargo on it. In order to support Pakistan, China has successfully changed the fate of Pakistan by deploying Type 56 tanks from its own active forces. At the same time, China issued a stern warning to India, forcing the Indian army to abandon its plan to capture Lahore, allowing Pakistan to turn the corner.
For Saudi Arabia, a country that maintains a good friendship with Pakistan, national security is of paramount importance. Therefore, the Saudis decided to try to cooperate with China. So, in 1986, Prince Sultan's son, Bandar, in his capacity as ambassador to the United States, personally traveled to China and expressed his wishes to the Chinese government.
At that time, Saudi Arabia tentatively made a request to China to buy Dongfeng missiles, but did not expect to receive an unexpected response: China agreed in principle to sell Dongfeng missiles. After a period of contact, in December 1986, representatives of China and Saudi Arabia negotiated a deal at a military base in southern Saudi Arabia and reached a preliminary contract for the deal.
Subsequently, China arranged for Prince Sultan to personally visit the Dongfeng missile base, which became the first case in which foreigners were allowed to enter a Chinese military base. Subsequently, Prince Sultan set his sights on the DF-3 missile. This missile is China's first surface-to-surface medium-range missile, and for Saudi Arabia, it can cover the entire Middle East region, fully meet Saudi Arabia's deterrence needs in the Middle East, and ensure national defense security.
Ahead of the talks, the Saudi king told Prince Sultan that he could buy it directly if the price was less than $8 billion, and that more than $8 billion would need to be negotiated between the two countries.
At the time of the negotiations, China's offer was 100 million yuan for one missile, however, the Chinese negotiators said "yuan", while the Saudi negotiators misinterpreted it as "dollars", and in the end 35 missiles totaled 3.5 billion US dollars. Both sides of the deal agreed that it was a good deal, and Saudi Arabia even bluntly said that China was very kind. Since this was the first large deal China made, China also gave an additional missile to Saudi Arabia.
After the deal was struck, the Saudi king said he could raise the price to $12 billion and proposed that China put nuclear warheads on the missiles, but China rejected the request, promising to provide "lifelong repairs" for the missiles purchased by Saudi Arabia and to train Saudi Arabia to train professionals in the use and maintenance of missiles.
After the deal was reached between the two sides, how to deliver missiles to Saudi Arabia became a serious problem. China and Saudi Arabia are far apart, with many countries passing through by land, which are vulnerable to interference from the United States, and air transportation is risky and unsafe.
At that time, China's naval strength was relatively weak, and Saudi Arabia's navy came from a distant place, which would inevitably attract the attention of the United States and the Soviet Union. Therefore, China and Saudi Arabia decided to use Pakistan to conduct a behind-the-scenes operation.
Saudi Arabia has shown its deep-pocketed side by sending a prince on a cruise, while Pakistan has successfully secretly transported weapons across the Indian Ocean in the name of escorting the Saudi prince. Subsequently, Saudi Arabia sent its navy and air force to escort the whole process, so that the weapons could reach Saudi Arabia smoothly.
After that, Saudi Arabia sought advice from Chinese experts to deploy the Dongfeng-3 missile, a strategic weapon, in Sulaiil, on the edge of the desert in southern Saudi Arabia, 560 kilometers from the Saudi capital. Subsequently, China sent "after-sales personnel" to Saudi Arabia to carry out the maintenance of the missiles.
The strategic deterrent effect of the DF-3 missile is very remarkable, covering the entire Middle East region. As a result, China and Saudi Arabia kept a low profile on the deal at the time.
Why, then, did China agree to Saudi Arabia's request at that time? This is inseparable from the social background at that time.
After entering the 80s, China pursued a development policy centered on economic construction, carried out large-scale disarmament, and at the same time greatly reduced its investment in the military industry, and many military projects were stopped, so that many military enterprises had to fend for themselves. Among them, the 504 factory, which produces raw materials for nuclear weapons, has switched to making popsicles, and the aerospace company has begun to make bicycles and washing machines.
Although it now seems that the development of the Continental Army's industrial industry has suffered certain losses, the urgency of economic construction at that time cannot be ignored. Deng Xiaoping mentioned in a speech: "The common people have no food to eat, and no matter what road China takes, it is a dead end." ”
Against the backdrop of imminent economic construction, in 1985 the central authorities issued a policy to allow the military to do business, with the aim of saving military expenditures. However, as the drawbacks gradually became apparent, in the 90s the central government ordered a ban on military business.
At that time, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, the United States' comprehensive national strength increased, and its suppression of China gradually eased. China was reluctant to risk selling missiles, but the country needed economic support for development, so in a domestic context, China agreed to Saudi Arabia's request to buy missiles.
The China-Saudi Arabia missile deal brought China $3.5 billion in foreign exchange reserves, making it China's largest arms export to date. At the time, $3.5 billion was a huge expense, as China's foreign exchange reserves were only $2.072 billion in 1986. This deal provides financial support for China's military industry, and to a certain extent, promotes the development of China's military industry.
By the time the missiles began to be delivered to the Saudis, some discerning people had already noticed the movement.
In March 1988, the Washington Post first reported the news of the China-Saudi Arabia missile deal, calling on the United States to impose sanctions on China and Saudi Arabia. Then, the United States began to pressure Saudi Arabia to check whether the missiles that had been delivered to Saudi Arabia carried nuclear warheads, but Saudi Arabia firmly rejected the American request.
Subsequently, the United States changed its tactics from blaming China and Saudi Arabia to belittling the Dongfeng missile. The United States openly claims that the missiles purchased by Saudi Arabia use conventional warheads, which are very limited in power and accuracy.
The most fundamental reason why the United States has shifted from sanctions against China and Saudi Arabia to belittlement of DF-3 missiles is that China and the United States have signed the "Missile Technology Control Regime," which restricts ballistic missiles with a range of more than 300 kilometers and a payload of more than 500 kilograms. Subsequently, when China sold missiles to foreign countries, it was controlled below this standard, and the range of the missiles sold did not exceed 300 kilometers.
At that time, Saudi Arabia chose to purchase the "Dongfeng-3" missile, which changed Israel's monopoly on ballistic missiles in the Middle East, enabled Saudi Arabia to have ballistic missiles that can be deterred in the Middle East, and greatly enhanced the national self-confidence of Arab countries. Under the protection of the Dongfeng-3 missile, Saudi Arabia has not been involved in the war for nearly 30 years.
During the Kuwait War in the 90s, Iraqi forces approached the Saudi border, but did not introduce the war into Saudi Arabia. Because the "Dongfeng-3" missile adopts the multi-warhead split-missile strike method, it is basically difficult to intercept the backward anti-missile systems of Middle Eastern countries. This makes the "Dongfeng-3" missile very much in line with Saudi Arabia's needs, it has a simple design, is easy to maintain, and is a strategic weapon that truly meets Saudi Arabia's national defense needs.
However, the United States' disparagement of the DF-3 missile did not achieve the desired effect. The diplomatic turmoil initiated by the United States has instead prompted China and Saudi Arabia to establish diplomatic relations. On July 21, 1990, China and Saudi Arabia formally established diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level. Since then, Saudi Arabia has received advanced weapons to ensure national defense security, while China has received Saudi Arabia's oil supply, and the two sides have achieved mutual benefit.
Although the DF-3 missile is now in its fifties, its contribution to stability in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia's national security is incalculable. Without the DF-3 missile, the wealthy Saudi Arabia would likely be involved in a war in the Middle East. At that time, China received $4 billion in foreign exchange reserves, which relieved the urgent pressure on the development of China's military industry.
The missile deal satisfies Saudi Arabia's needs in the Middle East to deter other countries and maintain national defense and security, and also demonstrates China's sincere will. As a result, China and Saudi Arabia have established military-trade relations, and the funds obtained by China through military-trade relations have played an important role in economic development and laid the foundation for the future development of relations between the two countries.
As the friendship between China and Saudi Arabia deepened, China began to build a high-speed railway in Saudi Arabia and received ample oil supplies. During the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, Saudi Arabia specially donated supplies to the mainland, and after the outbreak of the epidemic, the mainland actively donated a large number of vaccines and medical supplies to Saudi Arabia to support the Saudi people. When Saudi Arabia is facing difficulties, China has received their sincere and enthusiastic support, which not only bears witness to the sincerity of China-Saudi Arabia friendship, but also demonstrates China's responsibility as a major country. May the friendship between China and Saudi Arabia last forever.