China muscling in on US Egyptian ally
It's a long way from China's Great Wall to Egypt's pyramids, but for the first time, Chinese and Egyptian warplanes are conducting a joint military exercise above the Nile River, extending Beijing's reach into the African continent.
Chinese fighter jets, Airborne Early Warning and Control planes, aerial refueling tankers and helicopter gunships have been roaring across the sky alongside Egyptian Air Force warplanes after taking off from Egypt's Wadi Abu Rish Air Base in the desert.
The China-Egypt Eagles of Civilization 2025 joint air force exercise began on April 19 and ends in early May, and is expected to strengthen Beijing's links with the African continent's strongest military and a long-time strategic US ally.
China maintains an East African naval base in Djibouti on the Red Sea. Cairo, hoping to diversify its strategic relations, is now welcoming Beijing's interest and possible Chinese weapons sales.
'This will help enhance technical and tactical capabilities of the two air forces, and deepen substantive cooperation between the Chinese and Egyptian militaries,' China's National Defense Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang told a news conference on April 24.
'The joint training will run until early May. The Chinese PLAAF [People's Liberation Army Air Force] aircraft will train in collaboration with assets of the Egyptian Air Force.
'This will help enhance technical and tactical capabilities of the two air forces and deepen substantive cooperation between the Chinese and Egyptian militaries,' Zhang said.
The air combat exercises include Chinese mid-air refueling with a Y-20U aerial tanker, air support, battlefield search and rescue, and a Kong Jing-500 Airborne Warning and Control System.
Beijing also sent China's stealthy J-10 fighter jets, known by NATO as Firebirds, prized for dogfighting maneuverability, precision strikes and ability to be configured with air-to-air and air-to-ground bombs, anti-radiation missiles and a 23mm cannon, reports said quoting the China 3 Army Telegram channel.
Egypt filled the sky with MiG-29M/M2 Fulcrum multi-role fighters and other aircraft from the base, which is about 37.3 kilometers (60 miles) west of the Gulf of Suez and about 2,800 kilometers (4,500 miles) from Beijing.
'The [Chinese] air unit has adopted a mixed force formation that combines air transfer and aerial transportation, which ensured full deployment of all personnel and equipment,' according to China's CCTV.
'It has been suggested that China can use the exercise to train against relatively modern MiG-29s, a type that remains a primary fighter for the Indian Air Force and Navy,' said The War Zone, a Florida-based military website.
'The Egyptian MiG-29M/M2 share many similarities with the Indian Air Force & Indian Navy's MiG-29UPG & MiG-29K such as the same avionics suite,' it said.
'With the real possibility of drastic [US] foreign aid cuts to beneficiaries like Egypt, Cairo could see Beijing as an alternative to Washington's largesse and resulting attached strings,' The War Zone said.
'Significant US military aid to Egypt has been frozen and unfrozen in recent years, as successive US administrations weigh human rights concerns against Cairo's ability to assist in different geopolitical crises,' reported Breaking Defense, a New York-based online military site.
'It is China that is building Egypt's new capital city, intended to be an international gem in beauty, architecture, wealth, and grandeur,' Israeli former intelligence officer and expert on Egypt, Lieutenant Colonel (Res.) Eli Dekel told Maariv news.
China is 'also building at least two very important, large ports in Egypt, in Abu Qir. China has a lot of involvement, so I'm not surprised they are conducting this exercise,' Dekel said, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Abu Qir Peninsula and Bay are on Egypt's Mediterranean coast, northeast of Alexandria, and valued for its natural gas production and sheltered waters.
Richard S Ehrlich is a Bangkok-based American foreign correspondent reporting from Asia since 1978, and winner of Columbia University's Foreign Correspondents' Award. Excerpts from his two new nonfiction books, 'Rituals. Killers. Wars. & Sex. — Tibet, India, Nepal, Laos, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka & New York' and 'Apocalyptic Tribes, Smugglers & Freaks' are available here.
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