Sébastien Le Belzic (in Beijing), edited by Solène Leroux
For the second time this year, the Russian and Chinese armies are participating in military exercises together. Last May, the two navies and the air forces launched maneuvers off Japan and South Korea. This time, they are conducted in Russia. Maneuvers that worry Western countries.
The conflict in Ukraine does not prevent Russia from relaunching its annual military exercises with China. The Chinese soldiers will arrive at the end of the week. Why does this alliance worry Western countries? It will be the second time this year that the Russian and Chinese armies have participated in military exercises together. Last May, the two navies and the air forces launched maneuvers off Japan and South Korea. This time, it will be annual exercises conducted in Russia, which begin this week with 50,000 soldiers also from India, Belarus and Syria.
None of these countries condemned the intervention of Vladimir Putin’s troops in Ukraine. For Beijing, in any case, these are routine operations. “The goal is to test and improve strategic coordination and trust between the armed forces of the two countries,” said Wu Qian, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense.
A united front against NATO
But this rapprochement of the Russian and Chinese armies worries the United States, which believes that it endangers global security. The Sino-Russian alliance has been considerably strengthened over the past ten years and more recently still with the will, for Moscow as for Beijing, to stand up to NATO. Both countries are fiercely opposed to the enlargement of the Atlantic Alliance.
China claims to have provided no military support to Russia in its war in Ukraine, but it continues to support it economically and diplomatically.