China Redux

Interesting report in the Washington Post today disclosing that China is supplying Iraqi police forces with $100 million in light military equipment (click here for full text).  It seems China has stepped in to fill a gap caused by America’s inability to produce/deliver fast enough to meet Iraqi demand for weapons and other materiel.

U.S. Defense Secretary Gates said this worries him only for the reason that the U.S. has a harder time tracking non-American weapons than it does American ones.  So, for example, when weapons are confiscated from enemy hands, it’s harder to trace their origins.

Gates also claimed he didn’t particulary mind that the country Iraq turned to for more weapons was China.  That’s a cool comment by an experienced Cold Warrior; Gates knows it’s not worth blowing up this one arms sale into something bigger than it really is. 

That’s what blogs like this are for.  Are you serious? China is not jumping into Iraq with a massive weapon sale. Talk about gaining a seat at the table in a hurry! The United States already has Iran, Syria, Turkey among others, to contend with in Iraq; now it has China has well.  And China, unlike some others, has the money and production capacity to make a difference.

Looking beyond Iraq, China has been less than scrupulous in the past with its arms sales. What will it do in the future? Selling to the Iraqi government is a no-brainer. But where will all the weapons go when China has a surplus of weapons?

I wonder for how long this sale has been in the works.  It makes for an interesting coincidence that just two weeks ago, the Pentagon announced plans to sell $2 billion worth of advanced weapons to Taiwan (via NYT here).  China reacted very unfavorably to the announcement.  Now it’s entering Iraq with a newsworthy weapons sale.