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As the headline “Missile sale
to Turkey confirmed” swept across the internet
last week, the possibility of China providing
Turkey with a missile defense system has once
again become the topic of heated discussion.
Nonetheless, one day after the abovementioned
news piece was published, the manufacturer of
China’s renowned FD-2000 air defence missile
system denied such claims that it was
commencing work with Turkey on a missile
defence system.
The fact: “the media read
too much into this”
Although China Precision Machinery
Export-Import Corporation (CPMEIC) won the bid
to supply Turkey with a missile defense system
in 2013, due to the pressure of the US and
Turkey’s European NATO allies, the project has
been put on hold. Opposition to Turkey’s
acquisition of a Chinese-produced system has
been based on the fact that integration of said
system with the NATO systems already in place
in Turkey could subject the latter to security
risks, such as hacking and the leaking of
sensitive military information. US President
Obama has explicitly asked Turkish President
Erdogan not to buy the Chinese missile defense
system. Conversely, if the two systems were to
be integrated, some Chinese experts also
express concerns that Chinese military secrets
could be divulged to NATO.
“The FD-2000 air defense missile system was
confirmed to have won a Turkey missile system
procurement bid” China Central Television
reported at the Langkawi International Maritime
and Aerospace Exhibition (also called the LIMA
Air Show), which was opened in Malaysia.
This news spread rapidly throughout Chinese and
Turkish media. Yet, an executive of CPMEIC told
the Global Times that “The media read too much
into this. There is no new information on the
bid”.
Turkey’s position
Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz also said
in February that Turkey had no plans to
integrate a new missile defense system with its
NATO infrastructure. And according to Reuters,
an official from Turkey’s Undersecretariat for
Defense Industries said that Turkey has not
decided on its planned long-range missile
defense system and contract talks with China
are ongoing.
As reported by Daily Sabah, Erdogan said that
all of the countries who submitted a bid in
2013 (France/Italy, the US and China) now
accept at least some aspects of the deal that
they initially did not. A final decision,
Erdogan said, will be announced after close
evaluation of these changing positions.
Rumors among Ankara’s political circles purport
that no decision will be made on the missile
defense system winner before April 24 because
Turkey wants to wait and see France and the
US’s official positions on the 1915 incidents.
In the end, if these administrations adopt a
pro-Armenian stance, an agreement may be made
with China.
China’s attitude against the politicization
of normal business competition
According to Li Weijian, who is the director of
the Foreign Policy Research Institute at the
Shanghai Institute for International Studies,
the “tug of war” with regard to China’s sale of
HQ-9 air defense missile systems to Turkey has
been going on for more than one year; and
Turkey doesn’t want to miss out on the
opportunity to enhance its military power, to
obtain military technology, and to lower the
West’s asking price, even if the deal with
China does not succeed. As Turkey maintains its
communication with China in recent days, the
Western countries have continued their attempts
to persuade Turkey to scrap the deal.
Li Weijian believes that this “Running war”
shows that, first of all, the price of China’s
air defense missile systems really meets the
needs of Turkey. This is also true when it
comes to the favorable conditions that China
can provide Turkey in terms of technology
transfer. Secondly, although the West has
repeatedly spoken out against Turkey’s purchase
of Chinese missiles, it has been unable to
provide Turkey with terms as favorable as those
offered by China.
Nonetheless, Li Weijian also points out that
France and Italy and other European defense
companies remain in close contact with Turkey,
trying to prompt it to change its mind. Some
analysts believe that if Western countries were
to provide the same conditions that China is
willing to provide, Turkey would ultimately
refuse the Chinese offer.
For China, CPMEIC’s last successful bid in
Turkey has made the “red flag-9” surface-to-air
missile well-known around the world in a time
during which China’s influence already appears
to be increasing. In this context, Western
powers have joined the Chinese-initiated Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), despite
public opposition by the US, a fact that China
sees could possibly have a positive impact on
Turkey’s military procurement decisions.
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