China to participate in joint military exercises in Russia
Beijing will send troops to Russia for joint military exercises at the end of August to“deepen cooperation” between the two armies, announced the Chinese Ministry of Defense.
China and Russia have close defense ties, and Beijing has said it wants to carry bilateral ties “on a higher level”, despite international condemnation of the war in Ukraine. According to a statement issued on Wednesday, China will participate in the annual exercises dubbed « Vostok » (“Est”, in French – scheduled to be held 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”the Department of Defense said in the statement.
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 thirteen-hour maneuvers near Japan and South Korea, forcing the latter to launch fighter planes as a deterrent, when the President of the United States, Joe Biden, was in Tokyo.
Asked regarding Chinese participation in the joint exercises, US State Department spokesman Ned Price said the United States had no“special interpretation” to these exercises. “Most of the countries concerned also regularly participate in a wide range of military exercises and exchanges with the United States”he said at a press conference.