Military Rules and Chinese Weapons: Has the UAE Turned Its Back on Washington?

The Western media continues to unveil day after day significant details regarding China’s military presence efforts in the United Arab Emirates, despite the fact that the Gulf state is one of the United States’ prominent allies.

One of the most prominent questions surrounding the subject at hand is the justifications that drive the UAE to strengthen its military relationship with the People’s Republic of China, despite its long-standing strategic alliance with its rival, represented by the United States, and how the latter reacted to all of this.

 

Project 141

The latest publication on the matter is what was reported by The Washington Post, citing leaked intelligence documents described as “highly classified,” revealing construction activities at a suspected Chinese military facility in the UAE in December 2022, one year after Abu Dhabi announced the cessation of the project due to U.S. concerns.

According to the newspaper, the documents revealed intelligence-monitored activities by the Chinese army near Abu Dhabi’s port, indicating that the U.S. security partner has long been developing stronger security relations with China at the expense of American interests.

According to the leaked documents, the Chinese military’s observation of the construction of other sensitive sites raised concerns among U.S. officials.

The newspaper quoted the documents stating that Beijing’s efforts in the UAE fall within the framework of an ambitious campaign by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to build a global military network, including no fewer than five overseas bases and ten logistical support sites by 2030.

The document includes a map of other facilities that the Chinese army plans to establish in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and across Africa.

It stated that Chinese military officials refer to these plans as “Project 141.”

The leaked documents indicated that U.S. officials are particularly focusing on Khalifa Port in the UAE, located approximately 50 miles north of the capital, where a Chinese shipping conglomerate operates.

The newspaper also quoted informed officials saying that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden is also concerned about noticing the presence of Chinese military personnel at two UAE military bases inside the country, where the Arab ally operates unmanned aircraft and ballistic missile defense systems.

U.S. officials believe that the Chinese army has been involved in constructing and expanding an airstrip near the coast in Abu Dhabi.

This comes despite some in the U.S. administration asserting that the presence of PLA personnel at Chinese construction sites does not pose a threat in itself, according to the newspaper.

 

Emirati Detour

The leaked information from classified U.S. documents was not the first of its kind to address the issue. The Wall Street Journal had previously revealed in a report in November 2021 the construction of a Chinese military facility in the United Arab Emirates.

The report exposed Washington’s thwarting of China’s efforts to build a military base in the UAE just hours before former U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin began his tour of Gulf countries.

In light of this, the UAE announced in December 2021 that it had halted Chinese construction at that facility after U.S. officials argued that Beijing intended to use it. Anwar Gargash, a diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s leadership, said the Emirates ordered work stopped at the site at Washington’s behest.

The UAE, he said, didn’t believe the facility was intended for military or security uses.

“We stopped the work on the facilities,” Mr. Gargash said. “But our position remains the same, that the facilities were not military facilities.” He didn’t elaborate on what the UAE believed the facilities were to be used for.

However, after a year had passed, the Chinese PLA facility was reported to be likely connected to municipal power and water, and a perimeter fence had been completed for a logistics storage site for the Chinese military, according to leaked U.S. intelligence documents obtained by The Washington Post.

Another document warned that the PLA facility was “a major part” of Beijing’s plan to establish a military base in the United Arab Emirates.

The newspaper stated that the recent discovery of activity there convinced some U.S. officials that the UAE “is not playing it ‘straight’ with Washington.”

An official in the U.S. administration confirmed to the newspaper that he didn’t think the UAE would go to the Chinese and explicitly say: “It’s over, we’re not going to do this.”

Similarly, the InsideOver Italian website reported in January 2023 that China had started building a military facility inside a port managed by the Chinese in the UAE, but construction was halted after some U.S. pressure on Abu Dhabi.

The U.S. intelligence-based website, Globely News, stated on March 8, 2023, that China is establishing secret external military bases in the UAE, Cambodia, and Equatorial Guinea.

In its annual Threat Assessment report, the U.S. intelligence community identified the UAE, Cambodia, and Equatorial Guinea as locations where China is said to be establishing bases.

 

UAE Motives

Regarding the motives of the UAE and the reasons behind Abu Dhabi’s drive in this direction, Moroccan political analyst Khalid el-Grabli stated that “the United Arab Emirates’ decision to align more closely with China and create some distance from the United States is a matter that requires a response from the American side. This is particularly important because Abu Dhabi, being situated at the center of the American sphere of influence in the Gulf, raises significant questions about the dynamics in the region.”

During a televised interview on April 28, 2023, el-Grabli said: “If the United States maintains its position as the world’s leading military and economic power, exerting its influence accordingly, it will continue to be a significant concern for the UAE. However, Abu Dhabi now operates based on its own interests, meaning that its engagement with the United States will depend on whether it aligns with the UAE’s objectives.”

He added: “If the military and economic power of the United States diminishes on a global scale, it will be replaced by China. In either scenario, the UAE can leverage its relationship with China to exert pressure on the American side, compelling them to fulfill its demands. Alternatively, if the United States fails to meet its expectations, the UAE will align itself with China instead.”

El-Grabli states that the UAE always tries to remind Americans that there are alternatives to its partnership, and therefore they need to obtain what they want from the United States.

He pointed out that “the UAE is at the heart of a 100% American sphere of influence, and Khalifa Port is not far from al-Dhafra Air Base, where 5,000 American soldiers and over 60 aircraft, some of which are the latest American aircraft in the world, are stationed. Some of these aircraft are not present in any foreign U.S. bases.”

He continued: “The most important aspect of al-Dhafra Air Base is that one-third of the aircraft stationed there are used for reconnaissance and espionage, meaning that they provide highly classified information to the American administration to decide how to deal with this sphere of influence. Therefore, the presence of a Chinese base would pose a threat to the Americans because it would allow the Chinese to spy on U.S. activities there.”

In the same context, Emirati political analyst close to the regime, Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, told The Washington Post that the UAE has begun exploring other security partners after the slow American response to missile attacks against Abu Dhabi by Houthi rebels supported by Iran in Yemen.

On January 31, 2022, the UAE announced the interception of a ballistic missile launched by Houthi militants from Yemen—the third such attack during that month. The militia, which controls Sana’a, claimed to have targeted Abu Dhabi and Dubai with missiles and drones.

According to the American newspaper, the relationship between the United Arab Emirates and China has affected plans to sell American fighter jets, such as the F-35, unmanned Reaper drones, and other U.S. weapons worth $23 billion.

The Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), a state-owned company, announced signing an agreement to export advanced L-15 combat training aircraft to the UAE.

This occurred one year after the UAE’s Ministry of Defense conveyed its interest in acquiring the aircraft developed by Beijing.

According to a report from Oriental Times, a website specializing in Asian affairs, on February 22, 2023, the importance of the UAE’s acquisition of the L-15 aircraft lies in it being the first instance of the Gulf ally of the United States procuring a Chinese military aircraft with a fixed-wing design.

The contract was signed between the two sides on February 21 during the IDEX 2023 exhibition in Abu Dhabi.

China showcased the latest version of the L-15 aircraft, capable of midair refueling, painted in the colors of the UAE Air Force at the time.