China delivers anti aircraft missiles to Serbia

Media and military experts said Sunday that six Chinese Air Force Y-20 transport planes landed at Belgrade's civilian airport early Saturday, reportedly carrying HQ-22 surface-to-air missile systems for the Serbian military.

www.lakecountystar.com...

www.thedrive.com...

Seen as a Chinese show of force.

But was it really?

Six transport aircraft would not have completed a mission of that length in a contested environment without air superiority over the entire route.

Flying transport aircraft is one thing. Projecting cover for those transport aircraft in wartime is something else entirely.

Looks more like Serbia giving the West "the finger" more than anything else.

ETA: Thanks to user Silcone Synapse for pointing out this event.

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2
That's going to P!ss Branden off.....I wonder what kind of threats he's going to throw at Xi, but I don't wonder what Xi's response will be.

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

Not good at all

They're all in on cutting back the numbers

a reply to: nugget1

Guess we will find out how good their weapons are? Brandon only pisses into the wind if you get me.. More war for this administration is exactly what we do not need. See you on the other side.

I'd seen this article last night which suggests possible paratrooper deployment as well as an additional update regarding tanks being railed in from China.
halturnerradioshow.com...

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2
Although Serbian relations with NATO have improved since NATO bombed the territory during the Kosovo war,they are still seen as being alligned with Russia.
That relationship has become closer since the subsequent independence of Montenegro and Kosovo.

So while Serbia claims to be neutral in the Ukrainian war,they are seen by NATO as leaning more toward Russia.

en.wikipedia.org...

But-Serbian relations with China are developing fast to the extent that China is now becoming a bigger partner than Russia-

Under president Aleksandar Vučić, Serbia has sought closer cooperation with China.
After meeting with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi, he secured Chinese help in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in Serbia through delivery of PPE and CoronaVac vaccine doses, which has contributed to Serbia leading COVID-19 vaccination rates in Europe.
China has invested US$10 billion in Serbian infrastructure and energy including projects such as the Budapest–Belgrade railway. Chinese Hesteel Group took over the struggling Smederevo steel plant, keeping 5,000 Serbians employed.[10] Vučić has stated that "Serbia firmly supports the Chinese government's positions in safeguarding China's core interests including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Xinjiang and supports the "One Belt And One Road" initiative"According to commentators, China has replaced Russia to become Serbia's strongest ally.

en.wikipedia.org...

From the limeted reading I have done on the subject it seems that Serbia is antagonistic towards NATO,and it looks as though China are exploiting this in order to sell weapons and get the Serbs on board with the Belt and Road plan.
Plus China on the quiet seem to enjoy softly destabilising NATO by selling weapons to those less aligned with NATO in Europe/the balkans.

As I pointed out earlier,

China did recently make a statement during the anniversary of NATO’s bombing of Serbia in 99’

“China fires back at NATO's ill intention on Ukraine crisis amid anniversary of Yugoslavia bombing”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday said NATO's act of aggression will never be forgotten by the Serbian people, the Chinese people and the people around the world, amid the bitter 23rd anniversary of the Yugoslavia bombing in 1999 and NATO's latest smear.

On March 24, 1999, NATO started a 78-day bombing of Yugoslavia, causing thousands of casualties including three Chinese citizens, and displacing hundreds of thousands. Twenty-three years on, the US-driven NATO did not stop its expansion and aggression, fanning the flames on the Ukraine crisis and pressing China with groundless accusations.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

I vaguely recall the Albanians used to be into Chinese communism decades ago. Round 2 ?

Cheers

As the entire western world focuses solely on stopping Mad Man Putin and sends so many 'necessary' resources, who/ what will be guarding the homelands?

BTW, haven't enough arms and equipment been sent to Ukraine to win 3/4 wars now?

Making their move , expanding faster than a dose of Ex-Lax through an elephant .
Wonder if it was an accident the US bombed the Chinese embassy there ?

originally posted by: nugget1
a reply to: F2d5thCavv2
That's going to P!ss Branden off.....I wonder what kind of threats he's going to throw at Xi, but I don't wonder what Xi's response will be.

Likely Brandon will say "I'll punish the American people, hurting everyone in the world (except Russia and China) even more if you don't knock it off".

Serbia is not in line with Russia. I can assure you this firmly. America runs the Baltic from intel standpoint. a reply to: Silcone Synapse

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

Looks more like Serbia giving the West "the finger" more than anything else.

Its more of a reminder that China hasn't forgotten what NATO did. What NATO did in the Balkans i dont think it would be repeated as before.

a reply to: NoCorruptionAllowed

"I'll punish the American people, hurting everyone in the world

This is what the sanctions seems to be doing. Its interesting that every news article they keep stating how the sanctions will work on Russia, Russians while mentioning nothing how they are also having an effect on Europe makes you wonder.

Its going to be a telling during this summer.

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

I vaguely recall the Albanians into Chinese communism decades ago.

Half of the Southern Europe was communist to. Until the war.

I found this that should interest you. You dont get to see on the news as often.

Kosovars Who Fought for Land Are Now Eager to Leave

But recently the family of Kosovo Albanians has begun to splinter, as a disastrous economy, static politics and a newly created opening in the border with Serbia have enticed tens of thousands of Kosovars to leave their troubled land in search of opportunity and work.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

The Serbian relations with NATO might had improved since NATO bombed the territory during the Kosovo war but i dont expect them to join EU,NATO.

Many Serbs in the country would be agaisnt joining NATO.

a reply to: vNex92

Half of the Southern Europe was communist to. Until the war.

It was an interesting setup.

Of course, Romania and Bulgaria exited communism in the wake of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Not sure what became of Albania's experiment with Maoism.

How 'communist' was Tito near the end of his life? He certainly had no use for Russian notions of pan-Slavism and was at best a distant ally for Moscow.

Did you know NATO soldiers and their families were allowed to vacation in Yugoslavia during the latter part of the Cold War? Sounds odd, but it is a fact.

Cheers

a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

The obvious question is Russian forces in Ukraine the final destination for the equipment? Are the Chinese discreetly airlifting supplies to ensure Russia remains entrenched in Ukraine?

The mighty usa military, fresh off the win of WW2.. where the Russians really beat the Nazis, but hey the swaggwr of the USA was vast..

And yet, all that toughness couldn't defeat a weakened China, then... With every weapon advantage..
Korean war.

The masses overwhelmed...

Today? What could soldiers only trained in fighting a basically unarmed opponent from goat herder countries, could do?

Once BRICS enters the fray officially, Nato is beaten... The masses..

Plus, whose side will Africa and latin America take.

Europe and america has been nothing but nice to them over the last couple hundred

originally posted by: xpert11
a reply to: F2d5thCavv2

The obvious question is Russian forces in Ukraine the final destination for the equipment? Are the Chinese discreetly airlifting supplies to ensure Russia remains entrenched in Ukraine?

If you mean the Chinese SAM systems, IMO--

Serbia thinks it might be in a war in the near future and wants better air defenses than it had during the Kosovo conflict.

There was some posting activity on ATS that IIRC mentioned a coming 'reckoning' with Bosnia. That talk toned down after it became clear the Russian invasion of Ukraine had become a bungled affair.

As far as what China would like from Russia, I take a cynical approach. Having Russia bogged down in Ukraine is good for China. It keeps the attention of the West on Russia and not China, and affords China the possibility of equipment sales to Russia (or, perhaps, BOTH sides).

Cheers