Ok So China is buying Su35 for political reasons, why ? What does China owe Russia even more why would China want to please Russia by handing them billions for a aircraft which has little operational need ?
Big country's can pull these contracts with little country's that's when political leverage works, but China and Russia are two very big country's this carrot and stick approach is not applicable here
I am really confused about this deal just doesn't make any sense
I hope China did not just give into to Russian pressure and got bullied into this deal, China can buy gas and oil from Russia because of politics but fighters in 2016?
J11D, J16, J10B and J20 then comes Su35?
Not sure if this was a wise use of money by China
Pressure and bullying tend to be counter productive when dealing with China.
The best, and pretty much, only way to get China to agree to something is to offer something in return.
I think the timing of the deal is significant.
What happened in 2015 that didn't happen in all the previous years when Russia was trying its very best to push the deal through?
The most stand out event is direct Russian military intervention in Syria.
Seems like a far away place and a conflict in which China has no vested interest until you factor in the reports of Chinese terrorists joining in and getting training and experience in that conflict.
So China has a problem, the same as most western countries and Russia in fact, in that it has its own citizens joining and training with ISIS, who are likely if not certain to return home one day to launch attacks.
The solution to that problem is the same as the one applied by western nations and Russia - a multi-pronged approach ranging from deterrence to interception (both at departure and upon return) and direct action liquidation of dangerous individuals while they are training and fighting abroad.
China could easily do all the steps except for the most direct and, arguably, effective one - direct action on foreign soil. Well, not without getting directly in the fight as well, which China is thus far reluctant to do.
Here is where Russia comes in.
Russia does China a solid by putting the terrorists China is most concerned about (and who are unlikely to be on any western kill list) on their to-bomb list, and China does Russia a solid by buying a fighter jet it doesn't really need or want.
$2bn is a lot of money, but China is getting a decent fighter out of it, and even without that part, it would probably end up spending more if it joined the fight against ISIS itself. So on the whole, its a pretty good deal for China and Russia, so everyone goes away happy. Well everyone except for the terrorists, but I doubt anyone here would loose any sleep over that.
