Every year the U.S. provides military aid to many countries including Israel. But this aid presents a very real security risk when the countries in question turn around and sell that technology to other countries like China. China is an adversary that is run by a communist government. They are not our friends. So why do we continue to provide aid to Israel when they then sell that technology to China in violation of our own laws? The ancients understood why you don’t entrust certain people with power when they demonstrate that they can’t be trusted with it.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army is constantly in search of “inspiration” when it comes to the need to develop new types of weapons. Although the purchase or theft of foreign military technology can be seen as a strategic weakness, China nevertheless rejects costly and time-consuming research and development in the military-technical sector.
Foreign borrowing is most evident in the Chinese Air Force. China is developing aircraft with a wide range of capabilities, but unlike the US and other countries with highly developed air forces, most of China’s military aircraft are based on developments that have been bought or stolen from competitors.
In the 1980s, the United States cooperated with Israel in the development of a new combat aircraft based on General Dynamics F-16. The cost of creating a new aircraft was constantly growing, and the US eventually withdrew from the deal, leaving the Israeli Lavi fighter unfinished. Years later, the Americans discovered that Israel had sold plans to develop Lavi to China, granting China unprecedented access to technologies that were originally developed for the F-16.
