The Chinese and Russian Militaries Have Joined Forces, but Analysts Say the Two Sides Have Opposing Goals.
CNN Hong Kong (A city in China)
Jets screamed across the sky and cannons boomed in northern China on Friday, capping off a week of military exercises heralded by both countries as a new high in bilateral military relations.
According to a statement from China's Defense Ministry, the joint exercises were the first of their kind to use a joint command and control system, with Russian troops integrated into Chinese formations. The exercises also allowed both sides to test new weaponry and for Russian troops to use Chinese-made equipment, such as armoured assault vehicles, for the first time. The joint drills, which were partly intended to improve anti-terrorism capabilities, come as the security situation in Afghanistan worsens due to the collapse of the US-backed government in Kabul.
However, analysts in the West and Russia have questioned the exercises' true military value, implying that Beijing and Moscow likely had different goals, ranging from propaganda to economic. In an interview with CNN, Peter Layton, a fellow at Australia's Griffith Asia Institute, described the exercises as mostly theatre put on for the media.
The exercises, dubbed Zapad Interaction-2021 in Russian or Xibu Unity-2021 in Chinese, dominated Chinese state media last week, with multiple stories, photos, and videos from the activities in northern China illustrating his point. Layton described the exercises as "highly choreographed," with little room for "free play" when commanders on the ground must make critical decisions in the heat of battle. "Free play, not highly choreographed airshow-like events, is what hones military skills," Layton said.
Regional collaboration
In recent weeks, Western news outlets have been flooded with reports of military cooperation among US-allied Pacific nations, such as a British-led aircraft carrier strike group in the South China Sea and intensive exercises in Australia involving American, Japanese, and South Korean forces.
While Beijing does not have the same number of allies and partners as Washington, the drills provided the PLA to demonstrate its ability to collaborate with a regional partner.
While both sides have emphasized their close ties, an actual Russia-China combat alliance does not appear to be in the cards, according to Alexander Gabuev, chairman of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program in Moscow.
"Military cooperation does not necessitate a defence pact with a mutual obligation to go to war if the other party is under attack/wants you to participate in a conflict," Gabuev wrote in a Twitter thread.
According to him, a formal alliance would limit each side's autonomy, which they both value. China is under no obligation to become involved in Crimea, and Russia has no real interest in Taiwan or the South China Sea, according to Gabuev.
In the long run, Russia's motivations for increased cooperation may be more financial than military.
In the Twitter thread, Gabuev stated that Russia sees a "window of opportunity" to sell more arms to China, which still requires Russian technology despite its rapid military modernization.
And, as Gabuev points out, China is gaining battlefield experience by training alongside Russian forces.
In recent years, Russia's military has been tested in Syria and Crimea, for example. Some of this information may be passed on to Chinese troops during the joint exercises.
The last time China went to war was in 1979, during a border conflict with Vietnam.
New Machinery
As the exercise began last Monday, Chinese state media highlighted the appearance of the J-20, the PLA Air Force's decade-old, top-of-the-line aircraft participating in joint exercises for the first time.
The government-run According to the Global Times, the first appearance of the J-20s in joint exercises demonstrated enhanced China-Russia military cooperation in the face of Asian security challenges, as well as "direct threats from the US and its allies."
The nature of the alleged threats was not specified in the report, but the appearance of the J-20s at the China-Russia drills comes just a few weeks after the US Air Force put on its largest-ever display of stealth fighter power in Asia, sending more than two dozen F-22 Raptor jets to an exercise on the Pacific islands of Guam and Tinian.
When the J-20 first took to the skies a decade ago, China positioned it as the country's answer to the world's premier stealth aircraft, the American F-22s and F-35s. After the PLA declared it combat-ready in 2018, Chinese military expert Song Zongping said in an English-language post on the PLA's website that the J-20 would "engage with rivals in the future who dare to provoke China in the air."
While the J-20s put on a show last week, they will not be part of China's warplane contingent for the upcoming International Army Games 2021 in Russia, which begin on August 22.
According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, the PLA's force at those games will include J-10B fighter jets, J-16 fighter jets, and Y-20 large transport aircraft, all of which will make their first appearance outside of China.
According to the Global Times, H-6K bombers will also be included in the fleet of 11 PLA aircraft.
To illustrate Gabuev's point about real combat experience, the Global Times report, citing unnamed Chinese analysts, stated that Chinese troops' participation in the competition will allow them to exchange with other militaries who "have had experience in real combat, serving to further hone in their capabilities to fight in a real war."
What is your thought? Do you support the view of the analyst that the two sides have opposing goals?
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Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/16/asia/chinese-russian-military-ties-intl-hnk-ml/index.html
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