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What Do Russia-China Joint Naval Drills Really Mean?

© Photo : Press Service of the Russian Defense Ministry / Go to the mediabankRussian-Chinese drills "Joint Sea-2015" in the Mediterranean
Russian-Chinese drills Joint Sea-2015 in the Mediterranean - Sputnik International
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The Sino-Russian joint naval exercises started in the Sea of Japan. The drills include 25 ships, 15 aircrafts, 8 helicopters, and 400 marines. The theme of the exercises is joint protection of routes.

As writes Chinese newspaper Huanqiu Shibao, in the past few years there has been a trend among countries of conducting joint exercises to promote military diplomacy.

However, in the Asia-Pacific Region such actions have a deeper meaning and interpretation. People really like to speculate on the subject of who is with whom and against whom.

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But despite such speculations, Moscow and Beijing have said that their drills are not aimed at any third party.

On the other hand, the US and Japan do not hide their union and no one takes their attempt to hide the true intentions of their joint military exercises seriously. The international community believes that Russia and China are carrying out their drills to counter the Japanese-American military union.

It is important to realize that Moscow and Beijing do not have such close relations which prevail between Washington and Tokyo. They are not allies and they do not have a traditional commitment to the creation of alliances, Huanqiu Shibao wrote.

The Russian and Chinese navies do not depend on anybody; they operate independently and are not similar to the Japanese-American alliance, where the main role is played by the United States. Therefore, despite the joint exercises, they still cannot surpass the US and Japan, neither in terms of strategy nor in terms of tactics.

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As the military-political situation in East Asia is still hazy, it is obvious that this region is becoming the center of attraction, but it is not clear what is to be expected in the future.

The fact that the US is strengthening its military presence in the region and increasing the power of its military alliances is putting pressure on Russia and China.

Therefore, they feel they need to strengthen their own forces to be ready for a dialogue with Washington.

It should be noted that it is the US-Japan alliance that became an incentive to ensure that Moscow and Beijing start strengthening their own military forces.

As writes the newspaper, China is the fastest growing power of Asia-Pacific, but despite that, it is against confrontation with any country. In the XXI century “muscle-flexing” can turn into a tragedy as such a tendency has great destructive power.

Whenever China conducts military exercises, whether alone or with someone it is always emphasizing that its actions “are not directed against any other country” unlike what the US and Japan do.

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