UAE-China air exercises raise concern in the West over tech espionage

Recent joint air force exercises held between the United Arab Emirates and China are raising questions about potential information gathering on Western aircraft by Beijing, a new report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) has said.

On 10 July, the UAE Air Force and China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) began Falcon Shield, a joint operations air force exercise held in the Xinjiang province, which is the location of the ongoing genocidal persecution on Uyghur Muslims by the Chinese state.

Satellite imagery from the IISS shows that the exercise was held at the PLAAF’s Hotan Airport in Xinjiang, where the two countries held similar exercises in 2023.

Concerns have been raised by the type of aircraft used by the UAE in such exercises and the information gathered by China on the military technology.

The 2023 and 2024 iterations of Falcon Shield have involved the UAE deploying at least six Dassault Mirage 2000-9DAD/EAD fighter ground-attack aircraft.

According to the IISS, the inclusion of the Mirage 2000 fighter jets by the UAE in its joint operations with Beijing are of particular concern. Not only is the French-built fighter jet used widely by Western states, but it is also widely operated by the Taiwanese air force.

China has in recent months made threatening moves against Taiwan, which it considers an inseparable part of its territory.

Taiwan remained under the control of the Chinese Kuomintang nationalist government when the rest of China fell under Communist rule, later becoming a full democracy. 

While formally recognising Taiwan as part of China, the US and other Western states maintain unofficial relations with its government and provide it with military defences to deter a potential Chinese invasion.

With the UAE allowing China such close proximity to Mirage 2000’s, it could be allowing Beijing to gather information on how to combat one of Taiwan’s key fighter aircraft, as well as copy and adapt Western technology.

The IISS report says the UAE’s participation in Falcon Shield allows China to attain “familiarisation with the Mirage 2000 and its performance and capabilities, as well as the possibility of dissimilar air-combat training”.

Training exercises between countries that operate Western military technology and China are becoming more common. In recent years, large-scale indirect exercises with China have involved Pakistan, Saudi, Bahrain and even the UK and US.

However, the difference is that the UAE is participating in joint exercises inside Chinese territory and with the direct involvement of PLAAF.

With China as the host nation, the IISS claims the UAE is potentially allowing military technology like the Mirage 2000 to be monitored by Beijing overtly or covertly, including gaining insights into radar identification of jets and their capabilities.

The UAE and China’s military ties have grown considerably over the last few years, with the Gulf state seeking to decrease its reliance on the US, something which has caused friction with Washington.

The Biden administration warned the UAE in 2021 about the construction of a suspected Chinese military base in the Gulf state.

Construction was allegedly halted after US officials said the base would severely damage US-Emirati relations, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, in December 2022, US intelligence detected further construction at the site.