"The upcoming trainings have the United States worrying as well, although official Washington is reacting politely and neutrally. But experts and analysts are concerned that the joint maneuvers in Shandong may become the cornerstone of a future military bloc between Moscow and Beijing and that Beijing intends to develop strategic cooperation with Russia as a counterbalance to the U.S. role in the Pacific region."
"Then again, if we're dealing with a peacekeeping operation, then why the strategic missile launchers and impact ships? Preventing a local conflict, just as the war against terrorism that was also mentioned by Russian military officials, doesn't exactly call for the use of TU-95 and TU-22M bombers. Instead, the Peace Mission's scenario looks more like a strategic landing operation against a well-fortified region that is occupied not by terrorists, but by a regular army of a presumptive foe. In other words, the military aims of the upcoming maneuvers clearly contradict the propagandistic side, calling into mind the Cold War era." http://www.mosnews.com/commentary/2005/08/18/china.shtml Photo: http://www.mosnews.com/files/10238/china.jpg China, Russia to Play "Peace Mission 2005" Created: 18.08.2005 22:12 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:39 MSK, 13 hours 14 minutes ago Sergei Karamayev Lenta.ru Apart from the anti-terrorist military exercises in Kazakhstan in the fall of 2003, the "Peace Mission 2005" is the first mutual operation involving the defense ministries of two of the Pacific region's largest countries since the Korean War in the 1950's. Then, Soviet and Chinese pilots fought against U.S. aviation side by side. But then the relations between our two counties suddenly cooled, and this cooling took on forms of escalation, as in, for example, the battles over the Damansky island in 1968. Only after perestroika, the breakup of the Soviet Union and the creation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 1996 was military cooperation between China and Russia restored. And the current military training is testimony to that. The scenario is timely: according to the project, a certain imaginary nation located in the Shandong region is experiencing mass unrest over ethnic clashes, and the government has appealed to the UN for military help. "After receiving a mandate from the UN an operation to separate the conflicting sides and to establish order will begin," general colonel Vladimir Motenskoi, deputy commander of Russia's Infantry Troops explained. Then again, if we're dealing with a peacekeeping operation, then why the strategic missile launchers and impact ships? Preventing a local conflict, just as the war against terrorism that was also mentioned by Russian military officials, doesn't exactly call for the use of TU-95 and TU-22M bombers. Instead, the Peace Mission's scenario looks more like a strategic landing operation against a well-fortified region that is occupied not by terrorists, but by a regular army of a presumptive foe. In other words, the military aims of the upcoming maneuvers clearly contradict the propagandistic side, calling into mind the Cold War era. Neighbors Concerned Practically immediately after Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov's announcement, neighboring countries began to worry. Taiwan was particularly startled by the planned Russian-Chinese joint maneuvers. Taipei indicated that the real aim of the training was a rehearsal for invading an island, and called Beijing's involvement "the biggest security threat in the Asiatic-Pacific region." Taiwan's concern is understandable. Peking and Taipei have been hostile for half a century. Since 1949 Taiwan has been an independent state, but China does not recognize it, viewing the island as an indelible part of itself. But neither is Taiwan's sovereignty recognized by Russia. And the two countries' positions on separatism were reiterated during President Vladimir Putin's visit to China last year. Moscow silently supports Beijing in its intentions to make the country united and indelible, and indicates that it will not get involved in such complex relations. In its turn, official Peking has always underlined that the Chechen problem is exclusively Russia's domestic business. Taiwan's nervous reaction is only whetted by the fact that in 2005 Peking passed a law on China's territorial integrity. The law equates any calls to secede including Taiwan's with terrorism. Taking into account the anti-terrorist character of the current training, the maneuvers can be viewed as a demonstration of force addressed first and foremost at Taipei. But Japan also expressed its concern. The relations between Tokyo and Beijing are also far from ideal. Both countries aim for leadership in the Pacific region and are in constant conflict with one another, in particular regarding conflicting territories around the Senkaku Archipelago and over the development of oil and gas wells in the Eastern Chinese Sea. The Japanese government has never concealed the fact that it's worried by China's growing military potential. In 2004, Tokyo openly spoke about a "Chinese military threat." The United States Concerned The upcoming trainings have the United States worrying as well, although official Washington is reacting politely and neutrally. But experts and analysts are concerned that the joint maneuvers in Shandong may become the cornerstone of a future military bloc between Moscow and Beijing and that Beijing intends to develop strategic cooperation with Russia as a counterbalance to the U.S. role in the Pacific region. Indeed, China did not invite U.S. observers to the maneuvers, while representatives from the defense ministries of India, Iran, Pakistan and Mongolia will be present. From the point of view of Beijing, this is explainable it wasn't so long ago, after all, that the Pentagon called China a potential "strategic rival." However, the only thing that the United States can do at this point is send ships and airplanes to monitor the area where the training is taking place. Already, there is evidence that officials from the U.S. Pacific Command are hoping to observe the games, Brig. Gen. Carter Ham of the U.S. Joint Staff announced in early August. "Clearly, there's interest in anything that affects security in the Pacific region," the general said. "I wouldn't say that it's something they're particularly worried about, but certainly as it may potentially affect security, they're very interested," he added. What Moscow is Hoping For General Moltenskoi, noting that the Russia China war games are eliciting interest in neighboring states, tried to calm those who see the games as a threat: "There is nothing frightening about it, it's normal practice." Defenste Minister Sergei Ivanov, in his typical dry manner, indicated that other states can worry all they want, but Moscow will not change its plans. According to Ivanov, Russia conducts joint training with the United States, India, and other countries. "Why can't we have them with China?" the minister asked, adding, "if the games provoke interest, concern, whatever, those are their problems. Anticipating all sorts of speculations, I can say right now that the practical phase of the games will take place thousands of kilometers from Taiwan." It's clear that the main aim of the upcoming maneuvers for Russia is to demonstrate the possibilities of its military technology, primarily that of the TU-95 and TU-22M bombers. Currently, Russia is China's top weapons supplier in 2004 China bought $2 billion worth of arms and technology from Rosoboronexport. In that sense, the Chinese market is very promising for Russia, and it is important to demonstrate the goods up front. Where support for China in its possible conflict with Taiwan is concerned, many experts believe Russia will step aside in case it develops any further. Full text, in Russian, was published here. http://lenta.ru/articles/2005/08/18/jointforce/ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12ha4gu4j/M=362329.6886306.7839369.3040540/D=groups/S=1705323667:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1124769664/A=2894321/R=0/SIG=11dvsfulr/*http://youthnoise.com/page.php?page_id=1992 ">Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back!</a>.</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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