Sino-Russian pact lacks trust, experts say
Despite a show of unity, the growing partnership between Russia and China is more a marriage of convenience, experts say: the bilateral relationship is not built on solid ground and the two militaries do not fully trust each other.
China and Russia launched a five-day joint exercise in Jilin province on Wednesday, with 1,300 troops from each side taking part in drills dubbed 'Peace Mission 2009', the People's Liberation Army Daily said. The exercises, which have been taking place every two years since 2005, were sponsored by the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, of which Russia and China are core members. Some experts say it is an attempt to form an alternative military bloc to Nato and to counter rising threats of separatism and extremism in Central Asia.
The mainland shares more than 3,500 kilometres of border with Russia, and, Andrei Chang, editor of the Canadian-based Kanwa Defence Review, said, while the two have shared interests, the ties are a marriage of convenience. 'They became closer because both are facing threats of terrorism and ethnic violence at home,' he said. 'Besides the ethnic violence in Urumqi , the expansion of Nato into eastern Europe, the US setting up missile defence systems in Poland, and the Czech Republic's involvement in Afghanistan have all made Russia unhappy.'
He said the mainland would not form an alliance with Russia in the way that the United States had with countries such as Japan and Australia, because Moscow was uneasy about China's rise. 'Some people in Russia are unhappy about the great number of illegal immigrants from China,' Mr Chang said. 'The Russian leadership is also worried about China's massive counterfeiting of Russian weapons.'
A Shanghai-based PLA expert said the joint military exercises would be upgraded in coming years after the unrest this month in Urumqi that left at least 197 people dead. 'After Urumqi, China joined Russia as being a sufferer of extremism and separatism,' the expert said. 'They are on the same team. Russia's close neighbour Georgia had tried to join Nato, which would help Nato expand in Central Asia.'
But the expert said the Shanghai group would not become another Nato, due to Russian unease over the mainland's rapid development.
PLA chief of general staff General Chen Bingde and Russian General of the Army Nikolai Makarov said they were confident that the two military forces were capable of defeating any terrorist attacks, Xinhua said. 'China and Russia have a very clear objective to jointly eliminate terrorism, separatism and extremism,' General Chen was quoted as saying. 'We fight for peace.'
On Thursday, General Chen was quoted by a Hong Kong television report as saying the mainland 'would potentially consider sending the PLA to Central Asia to counter East Turkestan terrorism if the United Nations authorised it to do so, as the PLA has the capability'.
However, China's defence ministry said that 'the report was inaccurate because General Chen had been misled by a hypothetical question asked by a TV reporter', Beijing-loyalist Hong Kong Commercial Daily said yesterday.
