The Real Reason China is Arming Russia in Ukraine

In this mailing: - Con Coughlin: The Real Reason China is Arming Russia in Ukraine - Amir Taheri: Iran and the Changing of Course! [] [The Real Reason China is Arming Russia in Ukraine]( by Con Coughlin • March 26, 2023 at 5:00 am [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [WhatsApp]( [Telegram]( [Send]( [Print]( - Just as Iran has used Ukraine's brutal war to test the effectiveness of its drone and missile technology, so China's emerging industrial-military complex is reportedly looking for opportunities to conduct a rigorous evaluation of its new weapons systems; Chinese arms manufacturers are reportedly keen to test the effectiveness of their new weapons systems in Ukraine. - Chinese drones, which reports say are due to be delivered to the Russian Defence Ministry next month, would enable the Russians to deliver warheads weighing between 35 and 50 kilograms. - China's People's Liberation Army is in the midst of a massive military build-up, outspokenly aimed at making China the world's dominant military power by the middle of the century. Global defence spending fell by 1.7 percent in 2021, and the US defence budget for 2024, with a supposed increase of 3.2 percent, after factoring in an inflation of 6 percent, is actually a net cut. Meanwhile, Chinese defence spending grew by 5.1 percent to $293 billion. - As part of its military build-up, which began in 2013, Beijing is aiming to integrate artificial intelligence in its command and control structures by 2035. In addition it is investing heavily in new fleets of warships and warplanes. - The Chinese military is [said]( to be actively preparing to launch a military offensive to capture Taiwan, most likely before or during the US presidential election in November 2024, while the US is still under the administration of President Joe Biden, regarded worldwide as stunningly weak, and while the country is likely to be distracted. - Biden's repeated statements that he seeks "competition not conflict" with China, and that "We don't want a conflict" with Russia, can only be viewed as pleas not to escalate, rather than as a thundering deterrence. - "[T]he entire military must... concentrate all energy on fighting a war, direct all work toward warfare and speed up to build the ability to win." — Chinese President Xi Jinping, to China's armed forces' operational command center, Fox News, February 15, 2023. For all Chinese President Xi Jinping's declarations of support for Russia during his state visit to Moscow, China's real motive in seeking closer ties is evidently to exploit the Ukraine conflict to test its military firepower. Pictured: Xi shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on March 21, 2023. (Photo by Mikhail Tereshchenko/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images) For all Chinese President Xi Jinping's declarations of support for Russia during his state visit to Moscow, China's real motive in seeking closer ties is evidently to exploit the Ukraine conflict to test its military firepower. Just as Iran has used Ukraine's brutal war to test the effectiveness of its drone and missile technology, so China's emerging industrial-military complex is reportedly looking for opportunities to conduct a rigorous evaluation of its new weapons systems; Chinese arms manufacturers are reportedly keen to test the effectiveness of their new weapons systems in Ukraine. A year after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, Russia's military, having lost an estimated 200,000 men and around 90 percent of its heavy armour, including around 50 percent of its pre-invasion tank fleet, finds itself in a dire predicament. [Continue Reading Article]( [] [Iran and the Changing of Course!]( by Amir Taheri • March 26, 2023 at 4:00 am [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [WhatsApp]( [Telegram]( [Send]( [Print]( - Perhaps a more interesting sign has come with the purges carried among security forces with some of the more hardline officers moved aside or sent into early retirement. - If there is indeed a change of course, the most important part of the scheme is the prospect of normalization with Saudi Arabia. - Soon, however, it became clear that, flush with massive oil revenues due to high prices and rising exports, the Tehran leadership was reverting to its dream of hegemony in "West Asia." - Are we heading for a Deja-vu of the Deja-vu? Pictured: Iran's "Supreme Guide" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issues a message for the Iranian New Year (Nowruz) on March 21, 2023. (Image source: khamenei.ir) Is the leadership in Iran trying to change course or are we witnessing a new tactic? The signals coming from Tehran make both assumptions plausible. To begin with, the official discourse has shown a certain degree of moderation. In his special message for the Iranian New Year (Nowruz) last Tuesday, for example, "Supreme Guide" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei abandoned his usual themes of "wiping Israel off the map", "rubbing America's nose in the dust" and leading the "Resistance Front" to victory. Nor did he repeat the usual claims that the Islamic Republic was benefiting from foreign sanctions and that its achievements had aroused "the jealousy of big powers." Instead, he designated the coming year as "The Year of Curbing Inflation" and implicitly admitted that Iran remains a poverty-stricken country. "We are not the only country hit by inflation and difficulties of life," he said. "Even the rich and advanced nations now face difficulties of their own." [Continue Reading Article]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [RSS]( [Donate]( Copyright © Gatestone Institute, All rights reserved. You are subscribed to this list as {EMAIL} You can change how you receive these emails: [Update your subscription preferences]( or [Unsubscribe from this list]( [Gatestone Institute]( 14 East 60 St., Suite 705, New York, NY 10022