PRC: Renmin Wang Article Views Upcoming Sino-Russian Military Exercises Beijing Renmin Wang WWW-Text in Chinese 09 Jul 04
[Article appearing on Renmin Wang homepage by Russian-based correspondent, Lu Yansong, and contributing correspondent Gu Xiaoqing: "Huanqiu Shibao: China and Russia To Hold Their First-ever Bilateral Military Exercise"]
The Chinese and Russian armed forces both have glorious histories, and they are also important forces in maintaining world peace and stability today. As a major aspect of the Sino-Russian strategic cooperative partnership, cooperation between their armed forces is continually deepening. On 6 July, PRC Central Military Commission [CMC] Vice Chairman Guo Boxiong and Russian Minister of National Defense Ivanov signed a memorandum in Moscow on holding joint Sino-Russian military exercises. This means that the Chinese and Russian armed forces will hold their historic first bilateral joint military exercise.
China and Russia Will Stage "Higher Scale Military Exercises"
The weather in Moscow in early July is beautiful and the scene is pleasant. At the invitation of Russian Minister of National Defense Ivanov, CMC Vice Chairman Colonel General Guo Boxiong is heading a delegation on a five-day official visit to Russia.
Although the military delegation's activities are low key, the journalists could see from their chest badges that it includes many well-known generals, such as Beijing Military Region Commander General Zhu Qi, Second Artillery Corps Political Commissar Lieutenant General Peng Xiaofeng, Navy Deputy Commander Vice Admiral Wang Yucheng, Air Force Deputy Commander Lieutenant General Wang Chaoqun, and CMC General Office Deputy Director Major General Wang Guanzhong.
The Ministry of National Defense building in central Moscow appeared particularly grand on the morning of 6 July. When the Chinese military delegation's cars arrived at the building, Defense Minister Ivanov was awaiting them in the hall on the first floor. After a brief welcoming ceremony, the leaders of the two armed forces held formal talks. During the talks, Guo Boxiong stated that along with the development of Sino-Russian relations, exchanges and cooperation between their armed forces are being stepped up all the time, and relations between their armed forces are developing in healthy and steady fashion. Ivanov stated that Russian-Chinese military relations are now developing extremely smoothly, and Russia is satisfied at this.
After the talks ended, leaders of the two armed forces signed a memorandum on holding joint Sino-Russian military exercises. Ivanov told reporters: "We have already instructed the two general staff departments to prepare for the joint exercise." Guo Boxiong said for his part that the signing of the memorandum is an important step in the development of Sino-Russian military relations.
Since there is some time to go before the joint exercises are held, the two sides did not reveal the details. According to the Russian media, the joint exercises will start next year. According to the analysis of Russian military experts, since the Russians call this a "higher scale exercise," the number of troops participating will not be too small.
As for the exercise location, since the western section of the Sino-Russian border is only 50 km long and very mountainous, it is not a good place for mobility and spreading out, so the eastern section of the border would be more suitable. At present the eastern section of the border is on the Chinese side the defense zone of Shenyang Military Region, while on the Russian side it is the defense zone of the Far East Military District and Siberian Military District.
Russian military figures hold the view that it is most likely that Shenyang Military Region and the Far East Military District will assign units to the exercise. Judging by joint exercises held by China and Russia with foreign armies in recent years, antiterrorism will be the primary option for exercise content.
Conditions are Ripe for Success in Sino-Russian Military Exercises
Since the founding of new China, the People's Liberation Army [PLA] has never held a bilateral military exercise with Soviet (Russian) forces. According to reports, the Soviet, Chinese, and DPRK held a multilateral exercise in the Soviet coastal region in 1958. China never held a joint exercise with a foreign army for 44 years after that.
China and Kyrgyzstan held a joint antiterrorism exercise codenamed "01" in Xinjiang in October 2002, thus raising the curtain on joint exercises between China and foreign forces. In August 2003, members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization held a joint antiterrorism exercise codenamed "Union-2003" on the Kazakhstan-China border. When the Russian armed forces held their "East-2003" exercise in the far east in August the same year, they invited Chinese observers to inspect it.
Due to changes in northeast Asia, since the mid-1990's the United States has not only held annual joint exercises with its allies such as the Republic of Korea and Japan, but has even sent troops to Mongolia and central Asia, on the periphery of both China and Russia, to hold joint exercises. In contrast, cooperation in training between the Chinese and Russian armed forces has never been able to get going. People of foresight realize that this state of affairs does not meet the demand of developing the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership.
This year the PLA has intensified joint exercises with foreign forces, and has held joint exercises with the Indian and British navies. At the same time, Russia has respectively held joint exercises codenamed "Torgau-2004" and "Kaliningrad-2004" with the United States and NATO. In these circumstances, conditions are ripe for China and Russia to succeed in holding joint military exercises.
There are many exceptionally advantageous conditions for the holding of Sino-Russian joint exercises: First of all, the command and structure of their armed forces are quite similar; second, they have the same system of armaments; third, China has sent many military students to Russian military schools and academies for advanced studies, and it is relatively easy for officers of the two armies to communicate with each other. In recent years, neighboring military districts in the border region have held radio communications drills, and this too has laid a certain foundation for holding joint military exercises.
High-level Exchanges Between the Two Armies Enter an Active Period
Analysts point out there is a major background to Sino-Russian military exercises, that is, high-level exchanges between the two armed forces have entered an active period.
There has been a marked reduction of troop reviews for foreign leaders since Russia reformed its protocol system. In the past few months, however, reporters have seen inspections of honor guards by three Chinese generals. Moscow was bitterly cold on 16 December 2003. Amid solemn martial music, a Russian army honor guard prepared for inspection in front of the towering memorial in Victory Square. After 10 minutes or so, a number of black saloons drove into the square. A stocky general walked briskly toward the honor guard. Many there were visibly moved at the sound of the cordial greeting "Zdravstvuyete, Tovarishchi!" (Russian for "Greetings, Comrades!"). This general was PRC CMC Vice Chairman, State Councillor, and Minister of National Defense Cao Gangchuan, a graduate of the Moscow Artillery Academy.
On 7 May 2004, CMC member and PLA Chief of Staff Liang Guanglie and CMC Vice Chairman Guo Boxiong also inspected in turn the honor guard in Victory Square.
A "craze for visiting China" has also been whipped up among senior Russian officers. Last March, First Deputy Chief of Staff Colonel General Baluyevskiy led a group to Beijing to attend strategic consultations between the Chinese and Russian general staffs. In April, Ivanov again visited China after being reappointed minister of defense. The Russian armed forces chief of staff and air force commander will also visit China this year.
A Russian colleague said: "There are at least two points worth noting about Russia-China military exchanges. First, the generals of the two countries all call each other 'comrade.' Among Russian military men, 'comrade' is the most sacred word. Second, the two armed forces are all-weather friends. Although Russia maintains military ties with many countries, its exchanges with the Chinese armed forces are the closest."
Seven "Mosts" Encapsulate Bilateral Military Relations
Russia holds an extremely important position in the overall picture of the Chinese armed forces' foreign exchanges. A Chinese Defense Ministry official interviewed by us used seven "mosts" to encapsulate relations between the two armed forces. He said: "Exchanges between the Chinese and Russian armed forces have been the longest; mutual visits of senior officers and specialized delegations have been most frequent in recent years; the strategic consultations held by the two chiefs of staff departments have produced the most notable results; the content of bilateral military technology cooperation has been the richest and the scope the broadest; China has sent the largest number of military students to Russian military academies and schools; and mutual trust between the two armed forces is the deepest."
The Russians have similar understandings in this respect. Russian State Duma National Defense Committee Chairman Zavarzin was interviewed on the eve of Guo Boxiong's visit. He held the view that the objective conditions exist for developing friendly relations between Russia and China, and so long as they join hands, they can resolve many crises in the world. He said: "Many people now do not like such close and friendly relations between Russia and China, but this relationship has been formed by history, because there is a long border between us, and an enduring history of cooperation."
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