In December 2022, the first China-Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council Summit was held at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh, which marked the further upgrade of China-Saudi Arabia cooperation relations.

In December 2022, the first China- Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council summit was held at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh. This was a sign of further upgrading of the cooperative relationship between China and Saudi Arabia.

Regarding the prospects of China-Saudi Arabia cooperation, outside public opinion generally believes that " oil yuan settlement " is likely to become one of the hot topics that both parties pay close attention to.

China-Gulf Arab States Cooperation Council Summit

However, there are also people who are more sensitive to the military and are aware of the strategic risks . After all, judging from the experience of a series of Gulf oil countries such as Iraq and Syria , the United States will never be merciful to countries that abandon the dollar.

Therefore, for China, how to protect China-Saudi Arabia cooperation and check and balance the Middle East has become an issue that needs to be considered in advance. The best solution to this problem may be to send overseas troops to Pakistan .

The threat of the United States to the Gulf and Middle Eastern countries

As the only superpower in the world, the United States is also the only country that effectively implements a global military strategy. Its military bases have spread across five continents and three oceans around the world. The Persian Gulf region, which has the richest oil resources, is a key area that is closely monitored by the US military.

The U.S. Navy

In the island country Bahrain in the southwest of the Persian Gulf , the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet Command is established here. It is one of the six main fleets of the U.S. Navy. Its jurisdiction extends from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean waters near Kenya. It is the main military force of the United States to monitor the Middle East.

In the Iraq War in 2003, the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet mobilized aircraft carriers and more than 100 military ships to perform combat missions. Finally, with its powerful sea and air power, it blocked all external channels of Iraq and opened a gap in Iraq's air defense system.

I have to admit that based on the strength of the Fifth Fleet itself, it is fully capable of defeating a medium-sized country within a month.

U.S. Navy Battle Group

In addition, in the Indian Ocean, the U.S. military also occupies the extremely critical strategic location Diego Garcia Islands . It is located in the middle of the Indian Ocean, and all routes passing through the Cape of Good Hope, Singapore, the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and Australia need to pass through here. With the military base deployed in the Diego Garcia Islands, the United States can easily control the entire Indian Ocean.

Digo Garcia Islands

However, oil transportation between China and Saudi Arabia inevitably requires the use of Indian Ocean waterways, so China-Saudi Arabia energy cooperation is actually under the direct supervision of the US military . Once China and the United States become hostile, the United States can rely on its powerful Fifth Fleet to block the Indian Ocean passage between China and Saudi Arabia, which will have a devastating impact on China's energy security.

Solution to the US Threat

In fact, the People's Liberation Army has clearly realized the threat of US global military hegemony, and has thus proposed the goal of building a " blue water navy".

Since 2010, China's ocean-going strategic weapons represented by aircraft carriers have developed rapidly. The latest model of the Fujian ship has a displacement of 80,000 tons, reaching the standard of a heavy aircraft carrier. Therefore, some people think that perhaps we can rely on the powerful aircraft carrier battle group to deal with the US Indian Ocean threat.

China Fujian ship

But this solution is actually very low cost performance. Judging from the strength of the US Fifth Fleet, China needs to deploy at least 6 aircraft carriers in the South China Sea to ensure that when half of them are under maintenance, at least 3 aircraft carriers can still be dispatched to the Indian Ocean to meet unexpected needs.

Taking into account the maritime threats from the United States and Japan faced by the eastern theater and the northern theater, China needs to build a total of more than 10 aircraft carriers to achieve its goal. The military expenditure burden this brings is undoubtedly extremely heavy.

China's Fujian aircraft carrier

What's more, although the aircraft carrier can carry a large number of carrier-based aircraft to ocean operations, based on the normal sailing speed of the aircraft carrier battle group, it will take 10 to 15 days to arrive from the South China Sea to the Persian Gulf. This obviously does not meet the requirements of modern warfare for rapid response capabilities.

Since the concept of relying on a maritime mobile platform such as an aircraft carrier is not good enough, why don’t we directly consider establishing a military base on land that can directly face the Indian Ocean?

And China has a ready-made close partner, which is Pakistan known as " Pakistan ". Judging from the level of military cooperation between China and Pakistan, it is not a fantasy for China to station troops in Pakistan in the future.

Pakistan Armed Forces

The advantages of garrisoning troops in Pakistan

The advantages of garrisoning troops in Pakistan can be roughly classified into three aspects. First of all, Pakistan and China are land neighbors, and the degree of military cooperation between the two countries is quite deep.

If war breaks out, the People's Liberation Army can reach Pakistan through convenient land transportation lines and enter the Indian Ocean through Gwadar Port or Karachi Port to support partners in the Persian Gulf region.

Pakistan geographical location map

Secondly, the strategic location of Gwadar Port and Karachi Port is very critical. They are directly adjacent to the Arabian Sea , and the distance from Iran and Saudi Arabia is no more than 1,800 kilometers . At this distance, the

is just within the combat radius of the PLA's H-6K and J-20. Therefore, the PLA's air power can reach the skies of the Persian Gulf countries in a very short time to deal with military threats from the United States. It can be said that only by stationing troops in Pakistan can the People's Liberation Army have the ability to respond quickly to the Persian Gulf region.

China's J-20 fighter jet

Finally, the relationship between Pakistan and the United States is becoming alienated, and Iran, which borders Pakistan, is one of the most determined "anti-American fighters." If the People's Liberation Army has a military presence here, the U.S. military system in the Indian Ocean will face tremendous pressure.

Although the Fifth Fleet is powerful, it can only deal with one medium-sized country at most. The strategic partnership formed by Iran, Pakistan and China is enough to make the Fifth Fleet fearful and dare not act rashly.

Pakistani soldiers

Therefore, to a certain extent, if one day China really reaches an agreement with Pakistan on stationing troops, then the US global hegemony system will actually exist in name only..

However, in order to win the cooperation of Pakistan and even the Gulf countries, China needs an opportunity to demonstrate its strength - such as successfully implementing an anti-access/denial operation in the Western Pacific and forcing back the US military's military power in the first island chain .