by CHEN FENG
America loses out as Gulf state opts for French Rafale jets and refuses to bow to pressure over Huawei and 5G
The United Arab Emirates (UAE)’s recent cancelation of its plan to buy 50 Lockheed F-35 fighter jets worth $23 billion from the United States showed that the close trading partnership between the UAE and China could be playing a role.
The cancelation means that the UAE has chosen Huawei’s 5G technology over the F-35, which is used by the US as a “favor” to form military alliances with other countries.
At the US request, the UAE previously agreed to halt the construction of a logistic port that is being built by China. But this time, strong US pressure has failed to make the UAE drop its Huawei telecommunication projects but pushed the UAE to buy 80 Rafale fighter jets from France.
The Biden administration is now facing a dilemma about whether it should give up revenue of $23 billion or allow the UAE to use Huawei 5G. The US will be hurt either way, making China a final winner in the incident. (Translator’s summary)
On December 14, officials of the UAE Air Force wrote to the Pentagon to withdraw the Letter of Acceptance for the purchase of 50 Lockheed F-35 fighter jets and freeze the negotiations indefinitely.
This means the UAE’s F-35 purchase deal has entered a critical stage. It’s not dead yet, but it’s almost there. Can the UAE F-35 arms purchase deal be saved, and how did things get to this point?
The UAE is a small, rich country on the south coast of the Persian Gulf. It is a country rich in crude oil, composed of seven emirates, including Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Of its population of 10 million people, 78% are foreigners, mainly Indians. Its GDP in 2020 was about US$410 billion, about the same as Austria and Ireland. Its per capita GDP is more than $41,500, similar to New Zealand and the United Kingdom, or double that of Saudi Arabia’s and about 20 times India’s and 10 times Indonesia’s.
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