China and Russia to hold joint military maneuvers

Chinese troops will join military exercises in Russia. The exercises are a joint project with India, Belarus, Mongolia and Tajikistan in addition to those two countries. According to the Chinese Defense Ministry, the country’s participation is independent of “international and regional circumstances.”

The exercises with the other countries were already announced by Russia last month. Under the name ‘Vostok’, which stands for East, the exercises will take place from 30 August to 5 September. The exercises take place while the war in Ukraine continues. At that time, it was already reported by Moscow that foreign troops would also participate in the exercises, without mentioning specific countries.

The last time China participated in such exercises was in 2018, which, by the way, was also the first time that the country trained its military together with Russia. According to the Chinese Defense Ministry, the exercises are part of “an annual bilateral cooperation agreement” with Russia. The country intends to improve that relationship with Russia and the other countries that participate. “The aim is to deepen practical and friendly cooperation with the participating countries.”In addition, the level of strategic cooperation between the participating parties must be increased and the ability to respond to various security threats strengthened.’

The exercise will have a huge scope. “Last time in 2018, it was all parts of the armed forces that participated. Both the Navy, the Air Force and the land force went to practice with hundreds of thousands of military personnel.’

The relationship between Russia and China has grown stronger under Xi Jinping. An example of this is the ‘Borderless’ Alliance that the two countries concluded just before the invasion of Ukraine. The United States was concerned about the agreement, although it would not violate sanctions on Russia, for example, by supplying weapons to Russia.