Chinese and Russian military troops conducted joint exercises with jets dashing through the skies and cannons shooting artillery in the northern parts of the Asian nation on Friday that involved about 10,000 troops from both sides.
The joint military drills between the two nations were conducted within a week and have been touted by both sides as a new achievement in bilateral military relations. The exercises involved a joint command and control system, a first for the type of drills.
Joint China-Russia Military Exercises
Russian troops integrated into Chinese formations, seamlessly flowing through their ranks, as revealed by a China Defense Ministry statement. The drills also allowed both sides to test new armaments and gave Russian soldiers the chance to try out Chinese-made equipment, including armored assault vehicles and several others.
The two nations planned for joint military exercises to enhance anti-terrorism capabilities amid the violent situation in Afghanistan. Chinese officials have also expressed their criticisms of the United States after American troops were hurriedly removed from the war-torn country, CNN reported.
However, analysts from the West have questioned whether or not Russia and China actually share the same military values and goals. They doubted the real reason behind the exercises, arguing that Beijing and Moscow likely had differing objectives in conducting the drills, either propaganda or economic.
Xinhua News Agency, China's state-run media, said the exercises reflected the new height of the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. It said that the drills marked a new era and the beginning of strategic mutual trust between the two countries.
Richard McGregor, an expert on China at the Australia-based Lowy Institute think-tank, said the budding relationship between the two nations was more than just a "marriage of convenience." He said that the phrase undermined the depth of shared interests between the two parties, the primary of which is their anti-U.S. view, Aljazeera reported.
Enhancing Military Capabilities
The Ningxia region, where the military exercises were performed, borders Xinjiang, a Chinese province that is believed to be the location of detention areas for the Uighur minority. The Asian nation is rumored to have detained more than one million minorities in internment camps.
Artyom Lukin, an associate professor at Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok, said the Russia-China joint military exercises were a symbol of camaraderie. He added that the drills aimed to also enhance battlefield interoperability between the troops of both nations.
In 2005, China and Russia conducted their first military joint drill, and have since worked to increase the frequency, scope, and complexity of their drills. However, they have yet to demonstrate the ability to conduct a major joint operation.
Vasily Kashin, a military and China specialist at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, said the sharing of weapons between China and Russia contributed to a better understanding of each other's capabilities and was based on standard NATO practice. He added that the recent drills, which started from the Vostok-2018 joint strategic exercise, was to practice a high-intensity war against a major enemy, the South China Morning Post reported.
