Despite China’s repeated opposition, the Philippines has repeatedly provoked China on its doorstep, and the United States has also begun to stir up trouble. Recently, the United States Indo-Pacific Command issued a statement stating that the US military has deployed intermediate-range missile systems in Luzon Island, the Philippines. Soon after, retaliation came. In less than 24 hours of angering China by the US and the Philippines, the People’s Liberation Army did something big in the backyard of the United States, which was to support the Cuban military.
This is called tit for tat. What is the truth behind this matter?
It turns out that the Cuban military sent its Political Director to Beijing for a meeting with the People’s Liberation Army. China solemnly stated that it would continue to provide assistance to Cuba. The key point is that China also stated that it will support the construction of the Cuban military and establish a “China-Cuba Community of Shared Destiny.”
This statement is indeed resounding. This means that the People’s Liberation Army is likely to support the construction of the Cuban military in the near future. Many of the weapons and equipment and logistical capabilities needed by the Cuban military may be provided by China.
So, how will the People’s Liberation Army support the construction of the Cuban military? What impact will this construction have on the entire region? This question may become very crucial.
First, what does the Cuban military need?
It can be said that the Cuban military needs a lot of things. Currently, the total strength of the Cuban military is 60,000, including over 45,000 in the army. Cuba’s reserve forces include 16,000, and there are nearly 2 million members in the militia self-defense organization. It can be said that Cuba can wage a people’s war without any problem. Castro relied on guerrillas to overthrow the pro-American authorities in Cuba and establish the People’s Power of Cuba.
However, if the Cuban military wants to wage a modern war, their equipment is insufficient. The Cuban army mainly consists of old T-34 tanks, T-54/55 tanks, and Soviet-made BTR-60 armored vehicles. What kind of weapons are these? These are weapons that the Cuban military obtained from the Soviet Union in the 1960s to 1980s.
During the peak of the Cold War, Cuba was relatively strong militarily. Due to the full support of the Soviet Union, the Cuban military had a high degree of mechanization. However, after the end of the Cold War, the strength of the Cuban military was far less than before. Faced with long-term blockades and sanctions from the United States, Cuba’s military construction is far behind the world’s advanced level.
Therefore, the regular army of Cuba must improve its equipment level.
As for the Cuban Air Force, it’s even worse, including 5 MiG-29A/UB fighters, 28 MiG-23ML/U/UB fighters, and 13 MiG-21ML/U fighters. The various types of fighter jets currently in service in the Cuban Air Force have been poorly maintained, with severe aging of components. The main weapon equipment is still in the 1970s and 1980s. If the J-10C fighter is too advanced for the Cuban Air Force, at least the JF-17 “Thunder” fighter can be used to enhance their capabilities.
So next, China is likely to support Cuba in a way similar to its support for Pakistan. Just as China has helped Pakistan in military construction, it can also assist Cuba in modernizing its military.
Specifically, the Chinese Army has VT4 main battle tanks, which are comparable in performance to China’s 99A tanks. Even if China does not replace Cuba’s T-55 tanks with the latest VT4 tanks, it can provide relatively cheap but still powerful foreign trade tanks to Cuba, such as the VT-1A tank, an improved version of the MBT2000 tank, equipped with reactive armor. Or the VT-2 main battle tank, which is developed based on the 96A main battle tank, similar to the export version of the 96A tank.
For the Cuban Air Force, their MiG-29 and MiG-23 fighters have poor performance. China’s “Thunder” and J-10C can be exported to Cuba, and even if only the “Thunder” fighter is used, it can still rank in the top three in the Caribbean region. If the export of the KJ-500 early warning aircraft is added, the Cuban Air Force will have the basic ability to conduct a high-tech aerial battle.
To prevent the US Navy from blockading Cuba, export-oriented missile frigates derived from the 056 light frigate, equipped with anti-ship missiles such as the C-802, can also be directly exported to Cuba.
Of course, China is unlikely to export its intermediate-range ballistic missiles to Cuba. But it can provide Cuba with some short-range ballistic missiles with standard ranges of 2,999 kilometers and an error of 800 kilometers, such as the M20. The above-mentioned weapons and equipment will indeed help the Cuban military to build its own modern armed forces.
Second, what impact will China’s support for Cuba have on the regional situation?
In plain terms, this is what the United States and the Philippines brought upon themselves. Originally, during the Duterte era, relations between China and the Philippines were peaceful, and there was no problem with the relationship between the two countries being good.
However, recently, Duterte has been subjected to Marcos’ crazy persecution, and Marcos even suspected Duterte of so-called “treason.” This means that Marcos wants to carry out large-scale persecution of the correct political forces in the Philippines. Marcos wants to be like Zelensky and go further down the path of Zelensky.
For a sovereign country, there is no problem being friendly with the United States or buying weapons from the United States. But what other countries cannot tolerate is using the power of the United States to harm the interests of other countries.
Now the Philippines is gearing up to confront China, and even directly bringing in intermediate-range missiles from the United States. This move by the Philippines can be said to directly cross China’s red line, so China must make a statement. Since the United States wants to intervene in Cuban internal affairs, China must support the just struggle of the Cuban people against US hegemonic aggression, support the construction of the Cuban military, and contribute to the defense of third world countries.