Two insiders of the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Air Force on Oct. 25 told China's newspaper China Youth Daily how the U.S. dreads a China-Turkey missile trade.

Zhang Wenchang and Sun Yali of the PLA's Air Force elaborated on three aspects that both the U.S. and NATO fear, in regards to the possible missile trade between China and Turkey, after Turkey announced its decision to award a contract for the creation of a missile defense system to a Chinese firm last month.

First, there is the fear of an encroachment on the arms market which has thus far mainly been controlled by the U.S. and NATO. Munitions trade has long been playing a vital role in the U.S. national economy and the import of advanced air defense missile technology, in particular, has been the most lucrative trade. As the U.S. drags on in the wake of the financial crisis and many European countries are still caught up in the debt crisis, the loss of the US$4 billion trade is virtually adding insult to injury. More significantly, though, is how the trade can be seen as a possibly dangerous signal leading other nations to follow suit, hence creating shortcuts onto an arms market long-dominated by the U.S. and NATO.

The breaking of U.S. and NATO dominance over military technology is another factor for fear. Key technologies in the long-range missile defense system, the epitome of advanced technological achievements, have long been controlled by the U.S. and NATO nations. In order to maintain their dominant position, these countries have always upheld strict limits of cooperation in this field. Now, with China's entry into the market, the U.S. and European nations may feel a threat to their technological monopoly.

Finally then comes the fear of a breach in the unity among NATO nations. The arms trade conducted by the U.S. and NATO nations is never a mere trade or technology issue, but always bears a degree of political significance. Their decision to sell arms to other nations is always seen as a sign of political favor, which is the case in their dealings with Turkey in the past. Turkey's recent decision to buy China's missiles, instead of the much-anticipated U.S. or NATO ones, came as a blow to these allies.

The U.S. and NATO nations have voiced their serious concerns since Turkey awarded the contract to China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corporation's FD-2000 missile defense system on Sept. 26. The winning Chinese FD-2000 system has beat the U.S. Patriot, the Russian S-400 and French-Italian Eurosam Samp-T.

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