By Ankit Panda
European and Israeli plans to do defense commerce with China could be a major headache for the United States.
If Edward Snowden’s revelations about the United States’ global surveillance activities taught U.S. allies anything, it’s that on the world stage, even your closest friends can’t be trusted. The United States has recently been feeling the sting in a similar way – not because of espionage, but because its allies are hemorrhaging valuable defense technology to China. Recent reports suggest that the United States’ European allies and Israel have exported or had made plans to export sensitive defense technology to China.
According to Reuters, “If the People’s Liberation Army went to war tomorrow, it would field an arsenal bristling with hardware from some of America’s closest allies: Germany, France and Britain.” Reuters substantiates this claim – Chinese advanced surface warships largely field French and German diesel engine designs under the hood; Chinese destroyers field French sonar technology, as do anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters and surface-to-air missiles; British propulsion technology and airborne early warning radars can be found in several PLA fighters, bombers, and anti-ship aircraft. Additionally, “some of China’s best attack and transport helicopters rely on designs from Eurocopter, a subsidiary of pan-European aerospace and defense giant EADS.”
Israeli sources report that a top Israeli defense official was forced to resign recently after the United States “expressed fury at Israel’s decision to sell military equipment to China.” The incident hearkens back to the Israel-China Phalcon airborne radar system deal which was cancelled at the United States’ insistence – the cancellation of that deal resulted in a costly settlement for Israel which had to pay China $350 million in damages for backing out of the contract at the “last minute” under U.S. pressure. The more recent indent involved the sale of Ricor miniature refrigeration systems, which are ”used for missiles and in electro-optic equipment.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat