Chinese troops to join Russian military drills as tensions with US grow

Name: China says ‘no limits’ in cooperation with Russia
Uploaded: 2022-08-18T11:00:09.000Z
Duration: 1 min 45 s
Description: China says ‘no limits’ in cooperation with Russia

The PLA will send troops to the Russia-led Vostok-2022 strategic exercise at the end of this month

This is the latest sign of closer ties between Beijing and Moscow as both nations face backlash over their military activities

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Chinese troops march during the Vostok military exercise in eastern Russia in September 2018. Photo: AP

Amber Wang

Published: 7:00pm, 18 Aug 2022

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will send troops to take part in a Russia-led military exercise in a show of closer ties and military strength amid rising tensions with the US.

The Vostok-2022 strategic exercise, to be held from August 30 to September 5, comes at a sensitive time. Both nations face backlash from the United States and its allies over their military activities, namely Beijing’s large-scale drills near Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

China’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that the PLA’s participation in the Vostok exercise, which it took part in four years ago, was “unrelated to the current international and regional situation” and intended to enhance strategic coordination and strengthen its ability to handle various security threats.

Yang Jin, a Russian affairs specialist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, dismissed the idea that the exercise had anything to do with the Ukraine war and Taiwan situation, saying it was “a show of [military] strength” and reflected “the high level of bilateral relations”.

“The exercise is in response to the long-term security threats in the region, including terrorism and separatism. Therefore, this cooperation is not to deal with specific situations but regional security threats and unstable situations,” Yang said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that during the drills, participating forces would practise measures to maintain military security in Russia’s eastern region.

It will be the second large drill that both Russia and China have joined this year in a show of their partnership, which President Xi Jinping and his counterpart Vladimir Putin declared had “no limits” in February.

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China says ‘no limits’ in cooperation with Russia

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