The mentality is broken, the United States does not sell sophisticated weapons and equipment, and now it is worried that other countries will sell. According to an article on the US "National Interest" website: China's J-20 stealth fighter may soon appear in the Middle East. The US media believes that the UAE's decision to normalize relations with Israel was seen as a step towards stability in the Middle East, but a complicated situation arose because the UAE wanted to acquire advanced F-35 fighter jets, challenging Israel's security doctrine of maintaining military superiority. This is highlighted by the UAE's interest in Chinese aircraft such as the J-20 after the F-35 was not available.
The United States is therefore concerned that such a shift could reshape regional military dynamics and affect the strategic relationship between the United States and the Gulf region. Moreover, the UAE will receive the first batch of Chinese "Falcon" L-15 advanced training aircraft (domestic code: Gaojiao 10) in 2023, and has taken the first step in purchasing Chinese fighters. The United States has already suffered a big loss in its strategy of exporting weapons to the Middle East. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who were originally only fond of American drones, now only recognize Chinese drones (Pterodactyl, Rainbow) and introduce production lines to assemble and produce them themselves.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are oil-rich countries, have never been afraid of high prices in their arms procurement policies, but they only buy the best. The U.S. F22 is only for use by its own air force and has been discontinued. Although the F-35 is a new generation of "general-purpose fighter" that replaces the F-16 and is sold to military allies around the world, it is only in the Middle East that it is sold to Israel and not to Arab allies. As a result, there is a vacuum in the Arab military equipment market in the Middle East, and it has forced Arab military powers such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to turn to other countries to seek fifth-generation stealth fighters.
China currently has two fifth-generation fighters, the first is the mature J-20 fighter that the Chinese Air Force is currently equipped with in large quantities, and the other is the J-35 (J-31 for the export Air Force), which is about to be transferred to mass production. From the second perspective of Middle Eastern oil tycoons such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, they definitely hope to obtain J-20 fighters with mature technology and equipment approved by the Chinese Air Force. However, China's J-20 is aimed at the American F-22 fighter jet, and it is also their only heavy fifth-generation fighter option. All foreign customers know that China's arms exports are not tied with any additional restrictions on customers. This is the biggest difference from the United States.
Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich countries in the Middle East have long recognized the impact of this importance on national strategies. In the past, they believed that the mainland's weapons technology level was far inferior to that of the West, but now by observing China's military science and technology development and cooperation in the field of cutting-edge unmanned aerial vehicles, they have fully recognized China's weapons and equipment. For China's military industry, unlike the J-10 and Thunder export third-generation fighters, the J-20 export has no competitors. Therefore, if the oil-rich countries in the Middle East want to buy the J-20, whether China wants to sell it?