How important is Iran to China?

IDonT said:

Correction: UN security council gives Iran 30 days to comply. There is a difference. Yes, China vote for the resolution. The real contention is how to make Iran stop having nukes. ... etc ...

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It will be very difficult to stop Iran from developing her own nuclear resources. Uranium occurs naturally inside Iran. At one time, China sent about 50 geologists to help Iran locate those resources within her border.
If Iran cannot attained nuclear technology "legally", then it would just follow India's, Pakistan's and Israel's footsteps and do it "illegally" ...:coffee:

If Iran has any nukes, the first to go would be israel. however, if Iran ever got the idea of developing IRBMs, im not so certain China would risk her own safety and help out.

Iran stands as china's second outpost in the middle east. China shall utilize Iran to build relations with other OPEC nations. Put it this way: If China sells iran military equipment which is good, other middle eastern nations might take a good hard look at the prospect of buying cheap chinese weapons.

MIGleader said:

If Iran has any nukes, the first to go would be israel. however, if Iran ever got the idea of developing IRBMs, im not so certain China would risk her own safety and help out.

Iran stands as china's second outpost in the middle east. China shall utilize Iran to build relations with other OPEC nations. Put it this way: If China sells iran military equipment which is good, other middle eastern nations might take a good hard look at the prospect of buying cheap chinese weapons.

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Why would they buy Chinese weapons when US or European ones are better. As long as they are not subject to embargo (Iran or Syria), they buy top of the line hardware. Just look at UAE and their AESA F-16s.

Also, I though China has a better relationship with Israel than with the Arab countries. Afterall, Israel did give them the Lavi design to base the J-10, etc.

MIGleader said:

If Iran has any nukes, the first to go would be israel. however, if Iran ever got the idea of developing IRBMs, im not so certain China would risk her own safety and help out.

Iran stands as china's second outpost in the middle east. China shall utilize Iran to build relations with other OPEC nations. Put it this way: If China sells iran military equipment which is good, other middle eastern nations might take a good hard look at the prospect of buying cheap chinese weapons.

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Iran's Shahab 3 is said to be in limited service with the Iranian military and has the range to reach Israel--so if Iran truely wanted to go after Israel (biological or chemical weapons, assuming they do not yet have nukes or if they do have not been able to integrate one on a BM) they could. However, despite the rhetoric, I doubt Iran would ever do such a dumb thing as the consequences would simply be too grave. By the way, Iran's missle tech comes mostly from North Korea, Russia and China--so no surprises there.

IDonT said:

Why would they buy Chinese weapons when US or European ones are better. As long as they are not subject to embargo (Iran or Syria), they buy top of the line hardware. Just look at UAE and their AESA F-16s.

Also, I though China has a better relationship with Israel than with the Arab countries. Afterall, Israel did give them the Lavi design to base the J-10, etc.

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China has a better relationship with Arab countries than with Israel. China didn't recognize Israel until many years ago. I don't know about the Lavi design, lot of people agree and disagree with it associate with J10. But the Israel did help China in military modernization in many ways, Israel is a few countries willling to deal with China after the arm embargo. But it is strictly business and money, Israel didn't develop a close relationship with China. Even if it did, by cancel the phalcon AWAC from pressure by US. Israel has lost the friedship from China.

IDonT said:

Why would they buy Chinese weapons when US or European ones are better. As long as they are not subject to embargo (Iran or Syria), they buy top of the line hardware. Just look at UAE and their AESA F-16s.

Also, I though China has a better relationship with Israel than with the Arab countries. Afterall, Israel did give them the Lavi design to base the J-10, etc.

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Because the technology gap will not remain. By 2008-2010, the j-10 might begin to rival the performance of the eurofighter of 2006. The hq-9 may be as good or better than the s-300pmu-2. China also produces a line of advanced radars and sensors. PLus, china can offer weapons with 80-90% the performance of Western weapons for only 50% of the cost.

I dont know if isreal lost the friendship of China. Post 2000, israel still offered many systems up until the u.s made them stop in 2004. But they just started again. But I have not seen Beijing buy many israeli subsystems lately, signifying a shift to domestic products instead.

IDonT said:

Why would they buy Chinese weapons when US or European ones are better. ... etc

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As a national policy, the U.S. do not sell any kind of weapons to Iran. European military sales to Iran are somewhat monitor by U.S./Israel. It's very restrictive. On the otherhand, China goes beyond selling finished weapons to Iran. It actually sell production line as well. For example, China help Iran to start a production line for anti-ship missiles(Exocet type). This way Iran can produce as much anti-ship missiles as needed.

PLus, china can offer weapons with 80-90% the performance of Western weapons for only 50% of the cost.

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Where do you get those figures? Do you have hard data proving the performance of Chinese and Western weapons? And do you have any facts showing the latest Chinese weapons are only 50% as expensive as their Western equivalents? Don't throw out random numbers and statistics if you cant back it up with sources and facts.

Iran's, and indeed the whole Middle East's importance to China or anyone is going to end. Its only a matter of time. Thus, nations that have lost the strategic race in the region or wish to wash their hands of it (US) should find a replacement of oil. The Middle East will always be volatile, but it is only valueable because of oil.

Kind of random.

FriedRiceNSpice said:

Where do you get those figures? Do you have hard data proving the performance of Chinese and Western weapons? And do you have any facts showing the latest Chinese weapons are only 50% as expensive as their Western equivalents? Don't throw out random numbers and statistics if you cant back it up with sources and facts.

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Assuming Russian and Chinese cost are about the same, his speculation may have some truth to it. Here's an excerpt taken from Globalsecurity.org:

The S-300V (SA-12) low-to-high Altitude, tactical surface to air missile system also has anti-ballistic missile capabilities. The HQ-18 is reportedly the designation of a Chinese copy of the Russian S300V, though the details of this program remain rather conjectural. In early 1996 Russia astounded the United States Army by marketing the Russian SA-12 surface-to-air missile system in the UAE in direct competition with the United States Army's Patriot system. Rosvooruzheniye offered the UAE the highest-quality Russian strategic air defense system, the SA-12 Gladiator, as an alternative to the Patriot at half the cost. The offer also included forgiveness of some of Russia's debt to the UAE.