The rise of a great power: starting with military industry

Chapter 593: Win-Win Situation

Finally, we get down to business.

Liu Tao directly expressed his concerns about the current Iran-Iraq ship attack war and demanded that the safety of their ships' navigation be guaranteed.

"Mr. Usama, I don't want to see our ships attacked by you, so as not to affect the friendship between you and me, and the friendship between our two countries!" Liu Tao said.

Usama said quickly: "We in Iraq will never attack our friends' ships. Please rest assured, my friend!"

Iraq's imports of weapons and ammunition, as well as daily necessities and industrial products, all come from China by sea, and are basically transported by Liu Tao's fleet.

Furthermore, part of Iraq's oil is transported by sea by Liu Tao's fleet.

After getting Usamai's confirmation, Liu Tao showed a look of satisfaction.

Later, Usama also proposed to import another batch of weapons, including Type 80 main battle tanks and Aegis air defense missiles.

Liu Tao naturally agreed without hesitation. Iraq is a big customer, and the customer is God. If they take the initiative to talk about the order and the business comes to his door, there is no reason not to do it.

Over the years, a delicate balance has gradually formed. The oil-producing countries in the Middle East have made a lot of money by exporting oil. The people often lie down and count the money, and the social welfare is frighteningly good. Panshan Group and Huaxia have earned a lot of foreign exchange from the oil-producing countries in the Middle East through export trade, and used this foreign exchange to purchase raw materials such as iron ore and copper ore around the world, as well as import food. The United States not only sells food to Huaxia, but also sells Boeing aircraft to China, and imports cheap industrial products from China, thereby curbing inflation.

This also allowed China to integrate into the world trade system very quickly. The total import and export volume has reached new highs every year, and China's foreign exchange reserves are no longer in the predicament it was at the beginning of reform and opening up.

Although China's foreign exchange reserves have just reached the scale of 10 billion US dollars, the main reason for this is that the US dollar is depreciating rapidly, which requires China to spend as much as possible after earning dollars, and it is enough to have sufficient foreign exchange reserves.

The next morning, Liu Tao invited Malaek to have tea together.

While talking with Malaek, Liu Tao expressed his concerns about the safety of his fleet sailing in the Persian Gulf.

Liu Tao was more worried about the Persians than the Iraqis, because ever since the Persians overthrew the Pahlavi dynasty and established an Islamic theocratic regime, the Persians had been full of religious fanaticism, fearless of death on the battlefield, and very tough towards foreign countries.

He was not absolutely confident that the Persians would not attack his ships.

If our oil tanker was attacked by the Persians, we would have no way to explain ourselves.

As for rationality, the Persians have it, but not much.

Liu Tao had to emphasize the seriousness of the matter and ask the Persians to promise not to attack their ships.

Malaek didn't expect that Liu Tao asked him to have tea with him just for this matter.

"Liu, my friend, please rest assured that we Persians are sincere to our friends and we will never attack our friends' ships." Malaek quickly assured.

In recent years, the trade between Persia and China has been very close, and the two sides have had a lot of cooperation.

The war was fought within Persia, which caused great damage to Persia. Persia needed to import daily necessities such as food, clothing, and a large variety of industrial products from outside.

And almost all of these are imported from China.

In addition, there are a large number of weapons and ammunition. If it had not been imported from China, Persia would have collapsed long ago.

Persia is well aware of the importance of China to it.

If Persia had not obtained spare parts for American aircraft from this middleman and if this middleman had not sold oil to other countries, how could it have survived until now?

"Mr. Malaek, we have a friendly relationship, and we don't want any unpleasant scenes to occur." Liu Tao smiled and said, "You also know that we also have trade relations with the Iraqis. I hope you can understand this."

"Of course, if the Iraqis bombed oil pipelines, oil wells or refineries, that would be wrong. We will also help persuade them. Look at your oil pipelines and refineries in Abadan and Port Khomeini over the years. They have not been bombed." Liu Tao said: "In addition to fighting and killing, there are many things worth doing in this world."

Malaek nodded and said, "Yes, to be honest, we also hope to end this war as soon as possible. This war has caused great trauma to Persia, but the Iraqis are unwilling to retreat to the pre-war border."

At the beginning, the Persians' attitude was very tough. If they wanted a ceasefire, the Iraqi army would withdraw from Persia and the two countries would restore their pre-war borders. At the same time, Iraq would have to pay a huge amount of compensation for the war to make up for the damage caused to Persia.

Saddam did not agree to such harsh conditions at all. Iraq had the advantage on the battlefield and it was not a defeated country.

By now, the Persians' attitude had softened and they no longer mentioned compensation, but they insisted that the Iraqis withdraw from Persia.

Liu Tao smiled and said, "Mr. Malaek, as a friend, we will convey your attitude and demands to Iraq. We are willing to make constructive contributions to world peace."

"We have always emphasized that peace and development are the themes of today's world. We should cooperate for mutual benefit and seek development together," said Liu Tao.

By now, the two countries have actually begun to consider ending the war.

After all, the Iran-Iraq War has been going on for almost eight years since it broke out.

Although benefiting from high oil prices, both sides are no longer burdened with huge foreign debts like in the original time and space.

But both Iraq and Persia felt that they were beginning to feel overwhelmed. It was not because their foreign exchange reserves were running out, but because the casualties on both sides were too great, and the soldiers were tired of fighting after years of fighting.

Liu Tao actually also wants to see the Iran-Iraq War end, because China has changed from a net oil exporter to a net oil importer, and high oil prices are not conducive to China's development.

However, the Iran-Iraq War has continued to this day, and it cannot be ended just like that. It requires an opportunity for both sides to step down, and there must be a plan that both countries are willing to accept.

At present, there is little hope that the Iran-Iraq War will end this year.

It just so happened that he could take advantage of the Iran-Iraq ship raiding war to make a fortune, and the money he earned was no less than that from selling weapons.

Malaek once again represented Persia and hoped to purchase another batch of tanks and armored vehicles, and at the same time hoped that Panshan Group would provide training for the soldiers.

Liu Tao agreed to Malaek's request directly. After all, it was all money. Even if Persia adopted a payment method of half in foreign exchange and half in oil, Liu Tao would agree, because oil was money, and under the current market conditions, the price of oil would probably continue to rise due to the ongoing Iran-Iraq ship attack war.

He was not afraid that the Persians would cheat because, as a middleman, many of the Persians' oil sales accounts were circulated through him.

(End of this chapter)