The negotiations were held for three rounds. In the last meeting, Mu Haoyang, in accordance with the instructions of Li Pingko, proposed to the Egyptian military that China could help Egypt rectify its military forces, but it needed to have a deeper understanding of the combat capabilities of the Egyptian army, and then proposed a targeted rectification plan.

The Egyptian military happily accepted Mu Haoyang's proposal and stated that it would submit a complete list of arms procurement as soon as possible, and invited representatives of the Chinese military to observe the joint exercises of the three armies.

On May 6, after the visit to Egypt, Huang Hanlin led a diplomatic team to Syria. [bsp;    Compared with Egypt, the situation in Syria is more complicated.

In 2013, under the pressure of Western countries, Syria held a democratic election, thus entering a period of political turmoil. In the past twenty years, domestic conflicts in Syria have not been resolved, sectarian and political parties have become increasingly fierce, and its status in the Middle East has also deteriorated.

It was not until 2032 that the Arab National Unity Party, which evolved from the Arab Social Baath Party, came to power, that the chaos in Syria was terminated.

Syria plays an important role in the Arab world.

The Israelites once said: No war will be made without Egypt, no harmony will be made without Syria.

This sentence reflects Syria's status.

Among many Arab countries, except for Palestine, which is not widely recognized by the international community, only Syria and Israel have territorial disputes. Although after the Arab Baath Party stepped down, the Western group led by the United States launched a large-scale democratic politics in Syria to help Israel eliminate the threat, as long as the Golan Heights are still in the hands of Israel, no political party can ignore the territorial issue. The fact that the Arab National Unity Party can win with an absolute majority vote in the 2032 general election is related to the territorial issue.

Unfortunately, Syria is not a powerful Arab country.

Compared with Egypt, Syria is much weaker.

Not to mention, by the end of 2034, Syria's total population was less than 30 million, ranking behind Egypt, Iraq, Algeria and Sudan in the Arab world. Due to the lack of oil resources, Syria's national economy is not developed, far from oil-rich countries in the Gulf, and is even more disparate compared to Egypt, which has already achieved industrialization. Affected by domestic unrest, Syria is one of the least developed countries in the Arab world.

Compared with its strategy, Syria's national strength is simply not worth mentioning.

Relatively speaking, Huang Hanlin is more sensitive to Syria's visit. After all, Syria is still one of Israel's main potential threats and one of the most unstable factors in the Middle East. Politically speaking, if China wants to enter the Middle East, it has to take advantage of the Palestinian-Israel conflict and has to make a fuss in Syria.

Fortunately, Huang Hanlin's trip to Damascus was much lower-key than Cairo's trip.

Here, Mu Haoyang and other military representatives only visited the General Staff of the Syrian Army and held two meetings with senior Syrian military generals. They did not talk about military aid, nor did they mention topics related to military aid, and mainly discussed the promotion of exchanges between the two militaries.

This is understandable. Li Pingko had already clarified his diplomatic strategy, that is, China is not going to the Middle East to carry out alms.

Even if it is China's strategic goal to enter the Middle East, it cannot achieve its goal through alms, because China is not strong enough to give away precious military equipment at will. More importantly, the relationship based on alms is not solid and cannot be China's long-term strategy.

Whether it is Syria or Egypt, if it does not have the will to develop strongly, nothing China can do.

That's why the diplomatic visiting delegation only stayed in Damascus for three days.

Next, Huang Hanlin also went to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE and Oman, and finally set off from Muscat to return home.

Relatively speaking, the conflict between Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other countries and Israel is not sharp.

In these countries, Huang Hanlin focused on diplomatic, cultural and economic exchange activities. Although military cooperation is not the focus, there are still topics to discuss. Especially for oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia, military cooperation with China is of great significance.

After the Fourth Middle East War, the foreign policies of Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries changed significantly, and they strengthened their relations with Western countries such as the United States. After the outbreak of the Gulf War, Arab countries in the Gulf region supported their allies, and subsequent threats from Iran forced Gulf countries to turn to the West and demand the protection of the United States. In more than 20 years, Gulf countries purchased more than one trillion US dollars of arms from Western countries such as the United States, including allies, including fighter jets, and tanks. Gulf countries used oil revenue to build the most well-equipped legion in the Arab world.

After the Second Korean War, the situation changed subtly.

The performance of the volunteer army is amazing, and the performance of China's weapons and equipment has also been proven. After the UAE took the lead in taking the lead, the Gulf countries have gradually become customers of Chinese arms dealers and the most financially funded customers. In 2016 alone, China's arms trade volume with the Gulf countries exceeded 140 billion yuan, or about 25 billion US dollars, surpassing the United States and becoming the largest arms trading country in the Gulf region.

Although American arms dealers made a comeback after this, nearly a thousand F-35 series fighter jets were sold alone, with a total trade volume of more than US$300 billion, and have remained the number one arms trader in the Gulf for fourteen consecutive years, in 2032, with 300 j-22m settling in Saudi Arabia, China once again surpassed the United States and became the number one arms trader in the Gulf region, and maintained until 2034.

The arms trade can be seen as a microcosm of political relations.

When the Gulf countries are purchasing Chinese arms in a large scale, they are also adjusting their foreign policies, that is, they no longer completely turn to the United States' unilateral foreign policy, pay more attention to multilateral foreign policies between major countries, and obtain more reliable security guarantees by dealing with major countries.

Of course, arms trade has also promoted economic exchanges.

Since the First Indian Ocean War, China has used RMB to settle the arms trade and no longer uses the US dollar. Therefore, many Gulf countries began to accept RMB when they were engaged in oil trade with China and regarded RMB as the third reserve currency.

In fact, huge arms trade has enhanced China's energy trade with Gulf countries.

To put it bluntly, in order to purchase arms from China, the Gulf countries have to export oil, natural gas, etc. to China and obtain RMB.

That's true. Before 2034, China's energy imports were relatively smooth and were not curbed by the West.

According to official news released by China, in 2031, oil consumption reached 1.3 billion tons, of which 65% came from Gulf countries, and natural gas imports reached 48 billion cubic meters, of which 48% came from Gulf countries. In addition, about 300 million tons of petrochemical products were imported from Gulf countries.

In fact, in 2027, China surpassed the EU and the United States to become the largest trading partner of the Gulf countries.

Economic and trade exchanges have become an important factor in promoting exchanges between China and Gulf countries and an important basis for Gulf countries' foreign policy.

The problem is that it is not someone else who destroys this bond, it is China.

After the energy trade with Gulf countries reached its peak in 2031, China's energy imports began to decrease, especially after the launch of the national energy strategic plan and the major breakthrough in controlled fusion technology, China's demand for energy will definitely show a decreasing trend year by year. According to some Western economists' predictions, starting from 2035, China's demand for energy will decrease at a rate of about three percent per year. By around 2045, China is likely to become an energy exporter and no longer import energy from the outside world.

If this is true, the biggest victim is the Gulf oil-producing countries.

You should know that before this, China had already replaced the United States and became the world's largest energy consumer and the world's largest energy importer. Losing the Chinese market means that the Gulf oil-producing countries will suffer a heavy blow. If the controlled fusion technology reaches the commercialization level, oil will no longer be a strategic resource. For Gulf oil-producing countries that rely entirely on oil for their living, this is tantamount to losing the main survival basis.

Affected by this, the Gulf countries have differentiated.

Countries with weaker strength, such as Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, have turned to the West, hoping to accumulate enough social wealth in the next ten to twenty years and complete social transformation. Take Bahrain as an example. Since 2028, the country has successively used oil income to purchase bonds from Western countries and established national trust funds, with the intention of providing sufficient economic security for every citizen after 2045.

Some powerful Gulf countries have embarked on the road of industrialization, and the most representative one is Saudi Arabia.

Perhaps after 2045, oil is no longer the main energy source, but it still has great value and is an indispensable chemical raw material. From fertilizers to explosives, oil is useful, and most new materials are related to oil, and its value cannot be underestimated. Therefore, in the view of these countries, timely realizing industrialization and establishing a chemical-based industrial system are key steps to complete the national transformation.

In this way, the relationship between these countries and China has not only not weakened, but has been strengthened.

Although the chemical industry in Western countries led by the United States is also very developed, the technical barriers are higher, and China is more willing to help other countries achieve industrialization. The most representative one is North Korea. Within twenty years after the Second Korean War, North Korea has jumped from the least developed country to the seventhest economy in Asia and the 32nd place in the world, and has established a relatively complete industrial system.

The transformation of Gulf countries can be said to be the main factor in the great turmoil in the Middle East.

For China, this is both an opportunity and a challenge.

Compared with Egypt and Syria, Arab countries in the Gulf region do not pay much attention to the Palestinian-Israeli issue, but are unwilling to be overwhelmed by historical trends.

In this era of destiny, where the Gulf countries go will determine the future of the Arab world.
Chapter completed!