When people think of Saudi Arabia, the reputation of the "oil kingdom" often comes to mind. With the gift of nature, Saudi Arabia is unique in the war-torn Middle East, with a per capita GDP of up to 20,000 US dollars, and is known as a veritable "rich country in the Middle East".
Historically, however, Saudi Arabia has also faced threats of national extinction. At that time, Israeli and Iraqi troops were closing on Saudi doorstep, and Saudi oil fields were severely damaged.
At this critical juncture, China reached out to the aid and successfully solved the Saudi Arabian problem with 35 Dongfeng-3 medium-range ballistic missiles for $100 million.
Interestingly, after getting the missiles, the Saudi king made another $12 billion request for the purchase of nuclear bombs. So why is Saudi Arabia turning to China for help? Did China later agree to Saudi Arabia's request to buy nuclear bombs?
The Middle East Peninsula has long been a region of constant strife. Especially after the Second World War, due to various complex historical backgrounds and external factors, peace here seemed to be out of reach.
In this region, the establishment of Israel is like a sharp knife in the heart of the Arab countries, exacerbating regional contradictions and conflicts. In the 80s of the last century, the United States, for its own interests, took advantage of the religious problems in Iran and Iraq, triggering the famous Iran-Iraq war.
Iran and Iraq, the two Arab countries with the most powerful militaries in the Middle East, will have a huge impact on the entire region if they start fighting.
The security of this region has always been the focus of the world's attention.
Israel's involvement has further escalated the contradictions in the Iran-Iraq war, while Saudi Arabia has taken a relatively low-key approach. Although the United States has always relied on Saudi Arabia's oil resources and provided protection for them, in the Iran-Iraq war, Saudi Arabia suffered heavy losses from invading airspace and bombing oil fields.
Despite its wealth in abundance, Saudi Arabia is far from the established Middle Eastern powers such as Iraq and Iran in terms of industrial production, especially military production. Therefore, Saudi Arabia chose not to send troops to protect itself.
At the same time, there is a saying that "those who are barefoot are not afraid to wear shoes", and unlike Iran and Iran, Saudi King Fahd has great wealth, and he attaches great importance to domestic stability.
As a result, Saudi Arabia's top leadership has gradually formed a consensus to deter other countries and protect homeland security. In addition, in 1981, the Iraqi army launched an attack on oil tankers passing through the Persian Gulf, citing Arab support for Iran.
Among them, Saudi Arabia, the country with the largest oil holding, also suffered the most serious losses. Given Saddam's imminence, King Fahd could no longer sit idly by.
He decided to procure advanced ** from abroad to deploy around the country, while also being able to counter threats from Israel and Iraq.
At the time, nuclear bombs were undoubtedly the best, but the United Nations embargo made production and procurement very difficult. In addition, other countries in the Middle East coveted nuclear weapons, so Saudi Arabia finally abandoned nuclear bombs and opted for medium-range ballistic missiles with a range of between 1,000 and 3,000 kilometers.
This missile is powerful and accurate, making it ideal for national defense. To this end, Saudi King Fahd gave this task to his younger brother, Prince Sultan, and asked him to set off immediately to ensure the procurement of missiles.
I was expecting to cooperate with the United States to buy **, but I hit a wall twice. Prince Sultan's first thought was to turn to the United States, an ally with significant military and technological superiority, and the United States is the world's largest arms dealer.
However, the United States has mercilessly rejected the Saudi demands, and there is absolutely no room for negotiation. Why is that? It turns out that although Saudi Arabia is an ally of the United States, Israel is the "own son" of the United States.
The Iran-Iraq war of the United States is aimed at plundering Iran's oil resources and weakening Iran's strength, allowing Israel to take advantage of the opportunity to grow. The war also involves the strategic deployment of the United States in the Middle East, so that it does not want the Saudis to succeed in buying ** and meddling in it.
While Saudi Arabia is at risk of extinction, the United States has stood by and put Saudi Arabia in a difficult position. After being rejected by the United States, the Saudis turned to the Soviet Union. However, the Soviet Union refused, because at that time the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was heating up, and Saudi Arabia was in the American camp, and the Soviet Union could not give it the best of the world
This put Prince Sultan in a difficult position.
Faced with the threat of Iran-Iraq war, Saudi Arabia's domestic security problems are like a sword of Damocles, hanging over its head, unable to enjoy its life as a local tyrant with peace of mind. At this time, Prince Sultan's eyes were on the Chinese Dongfeng-3 missile.
In fact, as early as 1965, during the Second Indo-Pakistani War, Saudi Arabia felt China's strength. At that time, Pakistan's national strength and military strength were far inferior to India's, and it was mired in war, and although Saudi Arabia was also a Sunni Muslim and gave Pakistan economic aid, in the face of the long process of the war, the aid seemed to be a drop in the bucket.
At this critical juncture, China did not hesitate to side with Pakistan, isolated by the world, and pinned down the Indian army through effective border deployment, and provided military assistance to help Pakistan turn the crisis into an opportunity.
This action prompted a major shift in Saudi Arabia's position on China and the beginning of normal economic exchanges with our country. Therefore, at a time when Saudi Arabia was facing the most serious challenges, Prince Sultan once again thought of China and made a request to China to purchase intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
In this regard, our country immediately gave a positive response.
In the 80s of the last century, China carried out reform and opening up with economic construction as the center. However, the domestic economy is still in a stage of gradual development, the military industry has been hit by the skew of resources, and many military factories have been forced to close.
Against this difficult backdrop, Saudi Arabia's ** procurement request gives us hope. In the interests of the country, we agreed to the Saudi request, and the then Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army*** was responsible for the negotiation of the procurement plan.
The venue for the negotiations was an air base in southern Saudi Arabia.
In December 1986, the Chinese delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia as agreed and put forward an intention to purchase: Dongfeng-3 ballistic missiles. The missile, which entered service with the Chinese army in 1969, uses inertial guidance and carries a liquid rocket engine.
It can be loaded with a nuclear warhead or paired with an ordinary warhead, with a range of more than 2,000 kilometers, which fully meets the defense needs of Saudi Arabia. After a week of in-depth discussions, a major breakthrough was made in the program known as the Peregrine Falcon, and the two parties finally reached a purchase agreement.
During one of the negotiations, a small episode arose. Prince Sultan asked about the Dongfeng 3 missile, but since China has never exported this missile, the negotiators tentatively quoted $100 million, hoping to have more room for counteroffer.
Unexpectedly, Prince Sultan was very happy to see this ** and immediately agreed. At this time, our negotiators realized that their report was too low, and immediately added that it was in US dollars, and Prince Sultan also confirmed that it was US dollars.
King Fahd gave Prince Sultan a budget of $8 billion to $10 billion, allowing him to decide for himself**. As a result, although $3.5 billion far exceeded our expectations, in the eyes of Saudi Arabia, this is a "friendly price".
As a result, the most difficult part of the negotiations proceeded the fastest, with the two sides agreeing that Saudi Arabia would spend $3.5 billion on 35 DF-3 missiles.
After the negotiations, Saudi Arabia also generously paid a deposit of $500 million. Although $3.5 billion is nothing for Saudi Arabia, it is already sky-high for China.
In 1986, China's foreign exchange reserves were only $2 billion, and the value of this order was 175 times. Therefore, our country attaches great importance to this, and immediately invited Prince Sultan to visit our country's Dongfeng missile base, and comprehensively demonstrated the process of production, assembly and transportation of missiles.
In his memoirs, Prince Sultan wrote: "I am deeply honored that I was the only foreigner to be given such special treatment by China during that period. ”
Although the 1987 deal between China and Saudi Arabia was a foregone conclusion, the United States did not sit idly by, and even threatened to withdraw the embassy and tear up the oil deal on the grounds of banning Saudi Arabia from deploying China's Dongfeng-3 missiles.
The Saudi side resolutely refused, but the United States continued to denigrate the performance of the DF-3 missile.
It turns out that there are deep-seated reasons behind the change in the position of the United States. At that time, China agreed to join the Missile Technology Control Regime, which was established under the auspices of the United States in 1987, in exchange for which the United States pledged not to interfere in the missile deal between China and Saudi Arabia.
However, the United States has always been known for being tough, and although the dust has settled, it still creates a buzz on the missile issue. And the Saudis are not fools either. After getting the Dongfeng-3 missile, Saudi Arabia immediately possessed the longest-range ** in the Middle East battlefield, which is enough to deter Israel and Iraq.
As long as the installation is successful, the ** problem can be solved, therefore, the Saudis did not pay attention to the negative statements of the United States and resolutely completed the delivery.
Sulaiil, on the edge of the Great Desert in southern Saudi Arabia, became the final site for the Dongfeng 3 missile base. Here is the wisdom and hard work of Chinese experts, on the basis of which they have built an airtight missile base from scratch.
Located 560 km from the capital of Riyadh, Sulayil is geographically secluded and far from the economic center. What's more, it is located outside the operational range of the Israeli Air Force F15 and the Iraqi Air Force F4, so that it can avoid easy detection by the enemy.
Despite repeated attempts by Israel to sabotage the construction of the base, they have been thwarted by the close cooperation of Chinese experts and the Saudi military. The site selection and construction are all aimed at ensuring the safety and smooth operation of the Dongfeng-3 missile base.
King Fahd's determination and courage, as well as the Dongfeng-3 missiles, have enabled Saudi Arabia to transform from a militarily weak brigade into the most deterrent country on the Middle East Peninsula.
In 1990, Iraq attempted to invade Kuwait, but King Fahd did not panic and immediately ordered the launch of the DF-3 missile. This action frightened Saddam, who immediately withdrew his troops from the border and fled Saudi Arabia in disgrace.
In the same year that Saudi Arabia and China formally established diplomatic relations, Saudi Arabia began to have a strong interest in China's advanced **. Especially after tasting the sweetness of the Dongfeng-3 missile, Saudi Arabia is even more coveted for China's first-class technology.
In the nineties of the last century, Saudi Arabia even started the idea of purchasing China's nuclear weapons and proposed a purchase of 12 billion US dollars. Although the price is very attractive, China has always maintained a cautious attitude towards nuclear proliferation in the principle of maintaining world peace, so it rejected Saudi Arabia's request.
However, this did not affect the relationship between the two parties. After that, the two sides reached in-depth cooperation in many fields such as petroleum, military cooperation and scientific and technological research and development.
Especially in terms of oil exports, Saudi Arabia has given China great preferential treatment, and the Saudi king even publicly said: "Even if there is a shortage of oil one day, we will give priority to protecting China's **."
All of this stems from the aftermath of the 1987 missile deal.
In the long course of time, the world pattern has undergone earth-shaking changes. The United States and Saudi Arabia have reconciled, and Saudi Arabia has become an integral part of the United States' strategy in the Middle East.
However, even under such circumstances, the best exchanges between China and Saudi Arabia have never been interrupted, and Saudi Arabia expresses its deep gratitude to China for its assistance at this critical moment. In 2009, Saudi Arabia handed over a high-speed rail project worth 60 billion yuan to us, and China's contractor also successfully completed the world's first "desert high-speed railway".
Today, diplomatic relations between China and Saudi Arabia remain stable and friendly.