Chinese military drills in Egypt reflect Cairo’s strategy to lessen U.S. dependence, expert says

Egypt’s recent joint military exercises with China—the first of their kind—raised eyebrows
across the global defense community. But for Eli Dekel, a former Israeli intelligence officer and
expert on Egypt, the move was anything but unexpected, according to the Jerusalem Post.
“For years, Egypt has made a deliberate effort to avoid relying too heavily on any single global
power,” Dekel told Maariv, an Israeli Hebrew-language publication. “It’s a costly strategy, but
one that Egypt has pursued with intent—purchasing weapons from a wide range of countries and
maintaining diverse military and political ties.”
This approach, Dekel explains, is largely driven by Egypt’s desire to avoid excessive reliance on
the United States, which provides Cairo with around $1.3 billion in military aid each year. Past
instances where the U.S. withheld certain arms deliveries—such as those to Israel—have not
gone unnoticed by Egyptian leadership, Dekel says.
“In its efforts to diversify arms sources and gain strategic independence, Egypt has turned to
China among others—despite knowing that Washington disapproves,” Dekel said.
The growing military cooperation, he added, reflects broader economic ties between the two
nations. China has become a major investor in Egypt’s infrastructure, playing a central role in
several high-profile projects.
“China is the lead contractor on many of these initiatives,” Dekel noted. “Not only is it building
Egypt’s new administrative capital—widely seen as President Al-Sisi’s flagship project—but it’s
also constructing at least two major ports in Abu Qir. Given China’s deepening involvement,
these military drills come as no surprise.”