Four reasons for China-Russia drills in Mediterranean: Sina Military

Greetings,

Note: As you read the article below let this divine truth saturate your mind….“ In the Near East, there stand navies which are neither American nor British…they are there to drive America out. The skies over there are beginning to thicken with foreign planes, carrying deadly weapons, guns and bombs. They will not be satisfied as long as Israel is in Palestine. The boil has come to a bursting point. We are in a troubled world. We are in a world that is now erupting.“-pg.172(tfoa)

Four reasons for China-Russia drills in Mediterranean: Sina Military

A joint China-Russia naval drill in the Pacific in May 2014. (Photo/CFP)

There are four main reasons China and Russia have decided to conduct a joint naval drill in the Mediterranean, writes the Beijing-based Sina Military Network.

Set to begin next week, the exercise marks the first time China and Russia will conduct a joint drill in that part of the world. The two countries have been holding naval drills in Pacific waters since 2012.

“The aim [of the drills] is to deepen both countries’ friendly and practical cooperation and increase our navies’ ability to jointly deal with maritime security threats,” Chinese defense ministry spokesperson Geng Yansheng said at a monthly news briefing. “These exercises are not aimed at any third party and have nothing to do with the regional situation.”

Despite this public declaration, there is no doubt that joint military drills will always send a signal, Sina Military said. For instance, US-Japan drills in the East China Sea and US-Philippines drills in the South China Sea are surely aimed at China due to the territorial disputes in those regions. US-South Korea drills, on the other hand, are clearly aimed at North Korea.

In this case, the target of the maritime exercise is obviously the US, which China feels has been intefering in China’s expansion activities in the East and South China seas by strengthening ties with Japan and the Philippines, while also leading economic sanctions against the Russian Federation for annexing Crimea from Ukraine last year.

While the scale and frequency of China-Russia military exercises have noticeably increased in recent years, this particular exercise was announced during the recent visit to Washington by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, in which he and President Obama pledged to increase their military cooperation. It is therefore no surprise that China and Russia will conduct another major drill later this year in the Sea of Japan before celebrations in Beijing to mark the 70th anniversary of the Japanese surrender in World War II.

Reports indicate that a total of nine ships from the two countries will take part in the Mediterranean drills, including vessels China now has deployed for anti-piracy patrols in waters off Somalia. Geng told reporters that the exercise will be focused on navigation safety, at-sea replenishment, escort missions and live fire exercises.

According to Sina Military, there are four primary reasons China and Russia decided to choose the Mediterranean for a joint naval exercise.

The first is Russia’s desire to further deepen its comprehensive strategic cooperation with China. Russia and China are comprehensive strategic partners, which has a different dynamic to traditional alliances in that neither China nor Russia are considered above the other in the hierarchy. Unlike alliances between the US and other countries, China and Russia regard each other as equals in this partnership.

Second, Russia has a strong desire to highlight its presence in the Mediterranean and demonstrate its special relationship with China. Further, Russia wants to expand its influence in the region by showing that it is strategically aligned with China when it comes to the Middle East. It is essentially a declaration to the European Union and Middle Eastern countries that Russia has not abandoned them despite its troubles resulting from the Ukraine crisis.

Third, China wants to demonstrate its influence in the Middle East and North Africa as well as its ability in ensuring safe maritime routes. China derives a significant portion of its oil imports from the Middle East and North Africa, and it is also increasing exports to Europe. The Mediterranean connects all three of these regions, delivering a perfect opportunity for China to boost its presence where it matters. China has also never really showed off its military presence in the Mediterranean before, and this drill will allow the People’s Liberation Army Navy to gain combat experience in familiar waters while also showing that China has the ability to carve out a safe sea route all the way to Europe.

Lastly, China and Russia put together the drills to put on a show for Europe. China wants to deepen cooperation with Europe, while no country in Europe wants to make an enemy of China. Accordingly, China’s decision to conduct joint naval drills with ostracized Russia is sending a message to Europe that Beijing is standing by Moscow. Rather than antagonizing them, China is trying to entice European countries to join Chinese president Xi Jinping’s ambitious “Belt and Road” initiative, which aims to organize multinational economic development in Eurasia through the land-based Silk Road Economic Belt and oceangoing Maritime Silk Road.

References:

Geng Yansheng　　耿雁生

Xi Jinping　　習近平

Social

Four reasons for China-Russia drills in Mediterranean: Sina Military