MOSCOW - The truth is out. The joint war games on northern Chinese beaches, part of a military exercise between China and Russia, are not designed to send warning messages to the United States about the limits of its global unilateralism.
It's really all about China and Russia practicing for a joint occupation of North Korea, or so the Russian media will have us believe.
More mundanely, the unprecedented display of Russian and Chinese combined military might also sends a signal to Central Asian countries that both Moscow and Beijing will no longer ignore American inroads into the strategically important region. However, Moscow has dismissed speculation of moves toward a new military bloc or joint armed groupings involving Russia and China.
"The issue of forming a new military bloc between Russia and China or creating a joint armed grouping is not being considered," Interfax news agency quoted a high-ranking military-diplomatic source in Moscow. The source said, however, that Russian-Chinese military cooperation could be developed within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), an international intergovernmental body founded in Shanghai in June 2001 that now includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. "Although the SCO is a political organization, it has a military component, whose role will be steadily growing," the source said. Defense or deputy defense ministers from the other SCO countries observed some of the exercises.
Officially, the joint drill, which is scheduled to end Thursday, was supposed to demonstrate advantages of anti-terrorism cooperation within the SCO framework. "The Peace Mission 2005 exercise clearly demonstrates the advantages of military cooperation in the fight against terrorism not only in a certain area but in the whole SCO region," said Vyacheslav Kasymov, head of the executive secretariat of the SCO regional anti-terrorist center.
The SCO regional anti-terrorist center planned to hold an anti-terrorist exercise in mountainous regions of Central Asia in October involving troops from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, he said. "Peace Mission 2005 provided us with useful experience in conducting bilateral or multilateral anti-terrorist operations," he said. Therefore, the joint Russo-Chinese drill comes as an inspiration, if not a rationale, for intensified security build-up within the frames of the SCO.
Russia and China have been highlighting the SCO as the cornerstone of regional security and the major force in regional politics, seemingly implying that the organization was supposed to come as a counterbalance to growing US influence in the region. This policy appeared to entail the recent eviction of the US military from a base in Uzbekistan, a SCO member.
Moreover, some statements by Russian officials indicate wider ambitions for the SCO. Russian General Staff chief Yury Baluyevsky earlier told the media that the armed forces of Russia and China, as SCO members, could be involved in accomplishing joint tasks within the frame of this organization. On the eve of the war games, Baluyevsky said that China occupied "a key position" in Russian foreign and strategic policy. He stated that the war games were designed to ensure the readiness of the two armies "to counter the challenges we face today in Asia-Pacific and globally".
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov claimed that Russian-Chinese joint peacekeeping operations in the Asia-Pacific region could be possible eventually. He also said that Russia and China could hold joint military exercises on a regular basis. "This is possible, but we have not made any plans yet," Ivanov was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency. He added that the joint war game should not be held annually.
As Washington has been increasingly stuck in its Iraqi quagmire, Russia and China seemingly availed themselves an opportunity to demonstrate their unwillingness to live in a unipolar world. Hence the joint exercises came as a reminder that the combined power of a "coalition of the unwilling" (nations that chose to follow President George W Bush into Iraq are seen as the coalition of the willing) could eventually endeavor to challenge the Bush administration's global vision.
Retired general Leonid Ivashov, former deputy head of the Russian General Staff, suggested the joint war-games were needed to face new challenges. "Russia and China face the same threats, not just terrorist, and the two nations have to band together to tackle these challenges," he said, apparently hinting that Moscow and Beijing have to join forces in a drive against the US unilateralism.
Not surprisingly, some Russian media outlets voiced a measure of skepticism over officially stated goals of the war-games as a largely anti-terrorism drill. China and Russia could also practice a joint occupation of North Korea, respected Izvestia daily speculated. Such a scenario could be used in the event of "sudden disappearance" of Kim Jong-il from the political leadership, the daily wrote, citing Japanese sources.
Russian officials also talked of unprecedented openness in the joint military drill with China. Facing media allegations of a hidden agenda behind the maneuvers, Russian officials reiterated that Moscow was not hiding the truth about the Russo-Chinese military exercise. "Russia is very open and we are not hiding information on how the exercise is progressing, and are always ready to disclose any kind of information," Ivanov told reporters.
Yet despite official clarification, some Russian media outlets remained unconvinced. "China and Russia practice a scenario for the World War III", the Russian liberal Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily commented, referring to a potentially wider conflict over Taiwan. Moscow and Beijing ventured to stage an unprecedented anti-American military demonstration, actually amounting to intimidation of other nations in the region, the daily commented.
The event was covering extensively in Chinese newspapers but officials had little to say except that the exercises were not meant as a threat to a third nation and that the operations were a success.
Meanwhile, Nezavisimaya Gazeta also suggested that China could be potentially interested in procuring up to 40 Russian-made Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers. Russia also featured its other sophisticated weaponry during the maneuvers. As the Russian military displayed their advanced weaponry in China, Moscow was understood to have a commercial agenda during the drill. In other words, during the drill Russia also sent a message, or rather a sales pitch, to China.
Overall, the eight-day maneuvers, which involved nearly 10,000 troops in east China's Shandong Peninsula, have been interpreted as a series of signals: to Washington, to other nations in the region and even to one another. However, multiplicity of signals bears a risk that some could remain unheard.
Sergei Blagov covers Russia and post-Soviet states, with special attention to Asia-related issues. He has contributed to Asia Times Online since1996. Between 1983 and 1997, he was based in Southeast Asia. In 2001 and 2002, Nova Science Publishers, NY, published two of his books on Vietnamese history.
As soon as Iran formally becomes an SCO member Chinese and Russian troops and/or weapons can ‘legally’ help Iran. #msg-7484614
He said the SCO was a political organization, not a military bloc, but added that the possibility of it using a peacekeeping force some time in the future could not be completely ruled out. At this point, however, the SCO members see no immediate need for mobilizing their peacekeepers and continue to use the alliance as a forum for discussing problems of security in Central Asia, he said. #msg-6853488
LONDON, April 15 (IranMania) - Tehran wants to become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), at which it currently has observer status, a senior Iranian diplomat said in Moscow.
"Iran and India are observers in this organisation but it is possible that they will become full members this summer," Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoted Manouchehr Mohammadi as telling students at the Russian foreign ministry's school of diplomacy.
"This will allow the SCO to become a stronger grouping. It currently has two key members, Russia and China. But we believe it should include Iran and India to have four," he added.
The SCO was founded in 1996 by Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as a vehicle for inter-governmental cooperation in central Asia.
It admitted Uzbekistan as a sixth member in 2001 and has also given Pakistan observer status.
Some observers believe the SCO is meant to serve as a counterbalance to the United States and US military power.
Mohammadi was visiting Moscow as part of preparations for a meeting of diplomacy chiefs from the world's eight most industrialised nations on Tuesday, which will focus on the Iranian nuclear crisis.
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