HOME	Your Most Trusted Source of Foreign News and Views About the United States

Aug. 18, 2005

Original Article (English)

Apart from anti-terrorist military exercises in Kazakhstan in 2003, “Peace Mission - 2005” is the first joint operation since the Korean War involving the defense ministries of the Pacific region’s two largest countries. In the 1950s, Soviet and Chinese pilots fought side by side against U.S. aircraft. But then relations between our two counties suddenly cooled, and this cooling turned to outright hostility, as in, for example, the battles over Damansky Island in 1968. It was only after Perestroika [Restructuring], the breakup of the Soviet Union and the creation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in 1996, that military cooperation between China and Russia was restored, and the current military exercises are testimony to that.

[Editor’s Note: On the Chinese-Russian border, Damansky Island, known to the Chinese as Zhen Bao, is an uninhabited stretch of land, about 1 1/2 miles long by a half-mile wide on the border between northeast China and Russia's Siberian Far East. In 1968, the two countries nearly went to war in a dispute that started there. According to Chinese sources, the two battles for Damansky Island resulted in the deaths of 250 Soviet troops and more than 100 on the Chinese side. Beijing also claimed to have destroyed 17 Soviet tanks and armored vehicles during the fighting. [READ: 'Centuries-old Dispute Became Open Combat']

Then again, if we’re dealing with a peacekeeping operation, why the need for strategic missile launchers and destroyers? Preventing a local conflict, or battling terrorism, which was also mentioned by Russian military officials, doesn’t exactly require the use of TU-95 and TU-22M bombers. Rather, 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 the conventional army of a presumptive foe. In other words, the military goals of the upcoming maneuvers clearly contradict the propaganda about them, and call to mind the Cold War era.

NEIGHBORS CONCERNED

About the fact that Russia and China will conduct such scale joint maneuvers, The announcement of the exercises came in December 2004, during a visit to China by Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. Speaking for his Russian counterpart, Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan was careful to note that "friendly relations between the Russian and Chinese armies were not directed against the third country."

Chinese Sailors Ready to 'Exercise'

Almost the moment Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov’s announced the Russian-Chinese joint maneuvers, neighboring countries began to worry. Taiwan was particularly startled. Taipei indicated that the real purpose of the training was to rehearse for the invasion of an island, and called Beijing’s involvement “the biggest security threat in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Taiwan’s concern is understandable. Beijing and Taipei have been hostile for half a century. Since 1949 Taiwan has been an independent state, but China doesn’t recognize it, viewing the island as an indelible part of itself. But neither is Taiwan’s sovereignty recognized by Russia. The positions of the two countries on separatism were reiterated during President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China last year. Moscow silently supports Beijing in its intentions to permanently unite the country, and has indicated that it will not involve itself in the complex relationship. For its part, official Beijing has always underlined that the Chechen problem is exclusively Russia’s domestic affair.

Taiwan’s nervous reaction is only whetted by the law passes by Beijing in 2005 on China’s territorial integrity. The law equates any attempt 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 toward Taipei.

But Japan has also expressed its concern. Relations between Tokyo and Beijing are also far from ideal. Both countries aim for leadership in the Asia-Pacific and are in constant conflict, in particular regarding territories around the Senkaku Archipelago [Diaoyutai to the Chinese] and the development of oil and gas deposits in the East 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 of a “Chinese military threat.”

Scenes from the 'Peace Mission - 2005'

Indeed, China didn’t 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.

“Clearly, there’s interest in anything that affects security in the Pacific region. I wouldn’t say that it’s something we’re particularly worried about, but certainly as it may potentially affect security, we’re very interested,” Brigadier General Carter Ham of the U.S. Joint Staff said in early August.

Chinese Soldier Admires Russian Fighter Jets in Shandong Province.

Defense 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 the speculation, I can say right now that the practical phase of the games will take place thousands of miles from Taiwan.”

It’s clear that for Russia, the main purpose of the exercises is to demonstrate the capabilities 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 [Russia’s State Arms Exporter]. In that sense, the Chinese market is very promising for Russia, and it is important to demonstrate the goods up front. As far as support for China in its possible conflict with Taiwan, many experts believe that Russia will step aside.