China will welcome Russia for major terrorist training exercises next month, just as the last US troops leave Afghanistan, while also posing a "daily threat" to the globe from space with lasers and missiles ready to blast satellites out of the sky, according to a military chief.
The Chinese and Russian defense ministries issued a joint statement on Thursday stating that the Chinese People's Liberation Army's Western Theater Command will participate in a large-scale exercise called West-Interaction 2021 in the Chinese city of Qingtongxia, which is located along the Yellow River, alongside troops from Russia's Eastern Military District.
The two forces plan to build up a combined command center to monitor the actions of 10,000 troops and different aircraft, artillery, and armored vehicles. For the joint maneuvers, including various goals, the idea is to mix people from both sides to improve interoperability.
Beijing and Moscow engage in dangerous activities in space
Meanwhile, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston claims that Moscow and Beijing engage in "dangerous activity" regularly, such as flying satellites near others. According to The Telegraph, he warned that future conflicts would be won or lost in space and that the UK is gathering intelligence on the "questionable" action.
Mike said the two countries' "reckless" behavior was observed numerous times a year. He also said Russia deployed satellites with weapon-like characteristics. They practiced a maneuver that could only have been done to kill another satellite purposefully.
China has also continued to develop anti-satellite weaponry, which includes everything from direct-hit missiles to laser dazzle weapons, electronic jamming, and physically ramming other spacecraft.
China, Russia to conduct joint bilateral drills
As these drills take place in China, US forces are nearing the conclusion of their departure from neighboring Afghanistan, which is scheduled to finish on August 31. Both Beijing and Moscow are concerned about Afghanistan's future as US troops depart for the first time in 20 years.
While both countries have been skeptical of Washington's participation in the crisis, they now view themselves as needing to step up to maintain peace and avoid regional repercussions. China and Russia will cooperate militarily with other states in addition to their bilateral drills.
Per Newsweek, China and Russia will also compete in August's annual International Army Games with Israel, Mongolia, Serbia, Belarus, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The games will take place from August 22 to September 4. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a detachment of People's Liberation Army equipment crossed the Sino-Russian border at Zabaikalsk station on Thursday.
Colonel Wu Qiang, a spokesperson for China's Defense Ministry, told reporters in Beijing on Thursday that such games "play an active role in enhancing friendship between the Chinese military and the military of participating countries, including Russia, strengthening training exchanges and improving the level of actual combat training." The games will be followed in September by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's yearly Peace Mission exercise.
Russia's participation comes after Biden warned shooting war
The Russian forces that will be present are from the Eastern Military District. The troops will be divided into teams and will work together to create plans and train.
The goal will be to verify and strengthen cooperative surveillance, search and early warning, electronic information attack, and joint assault and elimination capabilities of both armies. The announcement comes after President Joe Biden warned that cyber attacks on the United States might result in a "real shooting war."
As tensions with Russia and China rise due to a series of hacking events targeting US government agencies, corporations, and infrastructure, the US president indicated that cyber assaults might develop into a full-fledged war. Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly capable of causing damage and disruption in the real world, said Biden.
"If we end up in a war, a real shooting war with a major power, it's going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach," Biden warned in a speech to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. The depth of the United States' cyber vulnerability has been shown by many hacking incidents, as per Express.co.
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