China Sold Thailand Submarines That Lack Engines

Thank you my friend MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. for posting this perspective from theepochtimes.com author Anders Corr

China's to Delivery Two Submarines Type 039, 035 for Thailand
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsWR-2GvAi0

China Sold Thailand Submarines That Lack Engines
Beijing is trying to make up for it with old boats only fit for training
Thailand is buying submarines that it doesn’t need from China, and China has no engines to put in them. How could this happen?
Perhaps the Thai navy got bad advice. Perhaps Thai officials got paid off by the Chinese—it is one of Beijing’s favorite strategies when signing contracts for billions of dollars around the world.
Whatever happened, China sold Thailand something it couldn’t deliver: Chinese submarines with German engines. When Germany’s engine maker, MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, refused to provide the engines due to European Union sanctions from the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, Beijing realized it had to provide something else, or lose the Thai contract and its own pride.
The regime offered Thailand two old submarines, decommissioned from the Chinese navy. What an insult. They are only fit for training. Beijing also offered Bangkok two other kinds of engine to replace the German ones for the submarines.
Vice Admiral Pokkrong Monthatphalin has signaled that so far, however, the Thai navy is rejecting all of what China has on offer.
On March 14, The Wall Street Journal reported on Beijing’s failure to deliver the submarines, which are S26T export variants of its Yuan-class boat. “The submarine that China is building for Thailand is missing something: engines,” wrote Niharika Mandhana cuttingly.
The single Chinese submarine bound for Thailand, which does not yet exist, cost Bangkok $410 million. China also sold eight submarines to Pakistan. These could also be missing their engines. Pakistan and Germany refused to comment when asked by the Journal.

Luckily, 2020 protests in Thailand against the submarine deal scrapped the purchase of two additional boats, which would have made the total cost $1.1 billion.
The additional money for the two submarines—$683 million—could have been used, argued opponents, “to purchase 123 million AstraZeneca shots, 150 million units of PPE [personal protective equipment] gear, and rapid antigen test kits for some 64 million people,” according to a 2021 article in The Diplomat by Tita Sanglee.
Germany’s defense attaché in Bangkok was quoted in the Journal as saying that Beijing failed to ask Berlin first before inking the Thai deal. Apparently, Beijing thinks it has more influence in Europe than it actually does. China’s foreign ministry is publicly pressuring Germany, so far to no avail, to ignore the EU embargo for its submarines. Beijing claims the embargo is “inconsistent with the current international situation, the development of China-EU relations and the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU.”

FYI LTC (Join to see) Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. SMSgt Lawrence McCarter MAJ Byron OylerPO1 Jeff ChandlerPO1 John JohnsonCMSgt Marcus FalleafPO1 Tony HollandSPC Woody Bullard CMDCM John F. "Doc" Bradshaw PO3 Edward Riddle SPC Bob Ridley CWO3 Dennis M. CWO3 (Join to see)CDR Andrew McMenamin, PhDLT John Chang PO1 Sam DeelCAPT Frank Nice

MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. At least the subs that China sold them did not have screen doors on them......

The engines don't come with the basic package. They're extra!