Beijing will participate in the annual “Vostok” exercises scheduled from August 30 to September 5 in order to “deepen cooperation” between the two armies.
Beijing will send troops to Russia to take part in joint military exercises at the end of the month, in order to “deepen cooperationbetween the two armies, announced the Chinese Ministry of Defense. China and Russia have close defense ties and Beijing has said it wants to carry the bilateral relationship “at a higher leveldespite international condemnations of the war in Ukraine.
According to a statement issued on Wednesday, China will participate in the annual exercises “Vostok– planned from August 30 to September 5 according to Moscow – as part of its cooperation with Russia. “The aim is to deepen practical and friendly cooperation with the armies of the participating countries, increase the level of strategic collaboration between the participating parties and strengthen the ability to respond to various security threats.“, indicates the Ministry of Defense in the press release.
No “particular interpretation»
India, Belarus, Mongolia, Tajikistan, among others, will also participate in these exercises. China and India have been accused in recent months of providing diplomatic cover for Russia by opposing Western sanctions and arms sales to Ukraine. But Beijing assures that its participation in military exercises is “unrelated to the current situation at regional and international level“.
These are the second exercises jointly conducted by China and Russia this year. In May, the two countries had organized 13-hour maneuvers near Japan and South Korea, forcing the latter to launch fighter jets as a deterrent, when US President Joe Biden was in Tokyo.
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Washington regularly worries about the rapprochement between China and Russia, believing that it endangers global security. Asked about Chinese participation in these joint exercises, State Department spokesman Ned Price, however, indicated that the United States had no “particular interpretation“. “Most of the countries involved also regularly participate in a wide range of military exercises and exchanges with the United States.“, he said at a press conference.