Who would have thunk it? The Russians and the Chinese not only getting along, but working together to secure their region from all threats (the main one would obviously be U.S. expansion into Central Asia, which is addressed in part by the second article I will post next). http://en.rian.ru/world/20050718/40928131.html Commonwealth-2005 exercises unprecedented BEIJING/HONG KONG, July 18 (RIA Novosti, Mark Zavadsky) - The Commonwealth-2005 Russian-Chinese joint military exercises scheduled for late August 2005 are unprecedented in Chinese history, said Major General Zhu Chenghu, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies of the National Defense University. The exercises, scheduled for August 18-25, 2005, will take part in three stages. The first stage (August 18-19) will be held in the Far Eastern Military District. It will include military-political consultations between the chiefs of the Russian and Chinese general staffs in Vladivostok. The second and third stages will take place in China. About 3,000 Russian troops (from the Air Force, Airborne Forces, and Navy) and 5,000 Chinese troops will be involved in the exercises. The agreement to conduct the first-ever Russian-Chinese military exercises was decided during Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov's visit to China on December 12-13, 2004. The purpose of the joint exercises is to practice anti-terrorist operations. General Zhu Chenghu said he was convinced that the bilateral military cooperation had good prospects. "Russia and China are concerned with the situation in East Asia," he said. "I believe they will be able to solve regional security problems jointly." "We will test the compatibility of our military systems to promote mutual trust between Russia and China," he added. Chief of the Russian General Staff Yury Baluyevsky said earlier that the upcoming exercises would not be aimed against third countries. He denied all media allegations that Russia and China were set to practice an invasion of Taiwan.
As discussed in the past, the expansion of US military presence to Central/Eastern Asia is of great concern to the Russians, and to a lesser degree to the Chinese; and rightfully so. Imagine if the Chinese or the Russians established military bases in Canada or the Caribbean, what would be our response? (Well, I think the whole Cuban missile crisis gives you a hint, although it probably wouldn't have been as big a crisis if the Russians didn't install nuclear warheads in Cuba, but even if they didn't the US would've still insisted on the Soviets pulling out of Cuba). To every action, there is an opposite reaction. In this case, the Chinese and the Russians are partnering up to basically kick the US (sooner or later) out of Central Asia altogether, and it seems like most Central Asian countries with US presence on their soil are complying with their demands. http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/07/15/baseaccusations.shtml U.S. Military Accuses Russia, China of Bullying Ex-Soviet Republics Created: 15.07.2005 12:09 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 15:31 MSK MosNews A top U.S. military officer, Gen. Richard B. Myers, accused Russia and China on Thursday of “trying to bully” smaller Central Asian nations that host U.S. troops and cooperate with Washington in fighting terrorism, Associated Press reported. A regional alliance led by Russia and China called on the U.S. during a summit last week to name a date for withdrawing forces from bases in the former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. U.S. forces have used a base in each country since the early days of the war in Afghanistan. Both governments have recently questioned the need for continued U.S. access. Uzbekistan has imposed new limits on U.S. use of its Karshi-Khanabad airbase, after the Bush administration spoke critically of Uzbekistan’s handling of anti-government rioting in May that killed 200 or more people. The statement last week by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was interpreted by some as an attempt by Russia and China to push the U.S. out of a region that Moscow regards as historically part of its sphere of influence and in which Beijing seeks a bigger role because of the region’s extensive energy resources. “No, I don’t think the Shanghai memo or communique or whatever that came out was particularly useful,” Myers said. “Looks to me like two very large countries were trying to bully some smaller countries. That’s how I view it.” Myers said the U.S. has much to offer that region. “Security and stability in Central Asia is an important concept, and those who can bring security and stability ought to be welcome in Central Asia,” he said. At the Pentagon, spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had not been in contact with his counterparts in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan since they publicly questioned the continued presence of U.S. forces. Di Rita said the administration was considering its options and he suggested that the U.S. military had enough flexibility to get along without access to the bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. “There’s no single installation anywhere in the world that we must have and can’t live without, so we’ll make adjustments if we’re not going to use those installations going forward,” Di Rita said. The spokesman acknowledged that the presence of U.S. forces on Russia’s periphery has been a sensitive issue. “It’s an issue that does arise when the secretary meets with his Russian counterpart, the U.S. activities in Central Asia,” Di Rita said. “But it’s part of our operations in this struggle against violent extremism, and I think the Russians understand that. The same thing applies to our involvement in (the former Soviet republic of) Georgia, which we know is a situation of some anxiety for the Russians.”
imagine russia loses this big military exercise to china.... .considering the progress chinese military have made...i wouldn't be that shocked.
I don't see how that would be possible, since both militaries are exercising together, not against one another. My guess is that since Russia is the single biggest supplier of weapons technology to China, they want to test the compatibility of both armies' equipment moving forward into the future, as they collaborate on many different fronts. To me, it seems like the Russian-Chinese alliance is maturing on all fronts, be it politically, militarily, or economically. It makes a lot of sense for both sides, and I think (as was discussed before) any future USA-Indian alliance will be undermined by the Russian-Chinese alliance, since India is heavily reliant on Russian help with their military technology as well as nuclear technology (for peaceful, civilian purposes), although that will likely be satisfied in the long-term by the US lending its equipment/technology/expertise to the Indians. However, in the near future, India can't just trash all their military hardware if Russia becomes non-cooperative with them. The wild card might be Pakistan, but more specifically it will come down to the Middle East, as both sides attempt to extend their influence/cooperation/presence in the region. NOW you understand why we invaded Iraq
I don't think Russian will lose to Chinese. chinese military are not that far, especially in terms of combined effort of air force, navy, marines and land troops, communications, logistics, etc etc. China has some state-of-art weapons, but to combine them into a real force, there is a long way to go. Don't just underestimate Russians. Besides, I don't believe Russia and China can form any ally seaminglessly as Britans and Americans. Russian has always concerns about China's development. They need the money from arm sales, but just don't want to give the neighbour the best, rather sell them to India and Parkistan. Current movement is more reactive to US's increasing pressure and influences in the area, rather than proactive. Speaking of that Vladivostok, the size of Taiwan + Hainan (current largest island of Mainland China), was in fact taken from the Chinese. The territory dispute between the two countries goes way back. China lost some 150,000 square KM to Russians in history (the one I learned). And the ill feeling between them in the 50's won't just go overnight. Therefore, I just don't see them as true partners. In fact, both Russians and Chinese like Americans more than they like each other. Party position, political stances, or whatever reason, both governments can't be too close to US as they want to. On the other hand, US has to have an enemy, it's not Russia today, so it must be China. Too bad. Although I always believe there are a lot to gain for any side, if they work together, instead of posing against each other.
It's only a matter of time before USA ceases as the sole superpower in the region. I wonder what USA will do then, when it does not have such a powerful edge over not only nations, but entire groups of nations. A lot of USA's policies might come back to bite us in @$$.
what? like the policy of multilateralism in asia? the policy of wanting china to help maintain the region? the US has only helped ASEAN and any other major groups of nations in the region. so what exactly are you talking about?
Nixon befriended China to counter the USSR, China befriends Russia to counter the US and around and around we go.
Oh I don't know. Helping dictators for one. Stationing bases around Asia which pisses off a lot of countries...including friendly South Korea and Japan (civilians).I hear Latin America is tired of the US as well as the E.U. considering the dozens of protests occuring in those countries. There's so many to list... The Iraq war 'policy' pissed off a lot of countries... Next time US wants some help, a lot of countries will just say 'NO' and we won't be able to do anything about it....
We are talking about ASIA, not Latin America or Europe. The U.S. has a completely different policy towards Asia. That is what my point is. You should really try to read up on it rather than stick to your narrow minded view about how the US deals with things. And those bases over there mainly piss people off when we don't control our troops and they run off like idiots raping little girls. If you really believe SK wants us out that bad then you go ahead and believe it, but it's not true. They are not wanting us out that bad with the goal of military takeover that NK has for it. Yes great way to go about things there. How about we take that same stance too?
That is the goal for all capitalist countries (e.g. China, Russia and all other Western European countries). They are just the underdogs, so they are whining.
I disagree. You are being far too cynical. The US policies are aimed at promoting stability and democracy in the world not necessarily control of the world. While we do make large blunders with the sides we choose sometimes the ultimate goal is stability.
Why? You don't think those countries care about it's own economy? The biggest reason why France cried foul when US invaded Iraq was because they benefitted much from the "UN Food for Oil" program and other deals they had in place with Iraq. Believe me, international politics has much more to do with economy than moral interests. Moral interests are used as arguments when there are no other arguments.
