This month, Chinese armed forces will hold the first military drills with the United Arab Emirates in China, an initiative that raised eyebrows for analysts as Washington and Beijing vie for influence in the Gulf.
On Monday, a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Defense said, as per the annual plan and the consensus reached by China and the United Arab Emirates, Falcon 2023 will feature joint air force training for the two countries, which will take place in Xinjiang in northwest China.
The statement added that the training aims to deepen practical swapping and cooperation between the two militaries and enhance mutual understanding and trust. However, it delivered few details about the exercise’s scope.
Moreover, retired Kuwaiti Colonel and defense analyst Zafer Al Ajami agreed, saying that” by joining an exercise with China, the UAE is giving a second message to the US, and UAE is ensuring that it still has choices in managing its security through the best way it can think of.”
According to him, the first message came in May, when the UAE said it was withdrawing
a led maritime arrangement from the US, though the US officials disputed it then.
However, according to him, Mohammed Baharoon, general director of B’huth, a Dubai-based policy research center, said that the drills are part of UAE’s strategic partnership with China but displayed their greater geostrategic significance.
Al Ajami also said, ” It is hard for any country to replace the US presence in the region as a Gulf security guarantor.”
Des Roches said the one impact the drills could have is the additional wariness from the US about selling weapons to the UAE.
He also added that the most likely scenario is that only Chinese-produced aircraft procured by the UAE, like the Wing Loong drone, will be used in these exercises. The Wing Loong, if the UAE has been in service after 2011, and holds Chinese delivered air-to-surface missiles and bombs, and it is likely that they will be exercised in Xinjiang”.
Moreover, one of the analysts in the Global Times report said in a paraphrased manner saying that, ” China is not planning to fill the so-called power vacuum left by the US in the Middle East, but it is enriching alliance with the countries in the region, respect g their independent development, and assisting safeguard regional peace and stability.”
