Chinese and Russian defense officials vowed to strengthen their cooperation during meetings in Beijing this week \u2013 in the latest sign of deepening alignment between the neighbors that\u2019s been closely watched by the US and its allies. <\/p>\n
The two countries have \u201ccommon views, a common assessment of the situation, and a common understanding of what we need to do together,\u201d defense chief Andrey Belousov told Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of China\u2019s Central Military Commission, according to Russian state media Tass. <\/p>\n
Their task is to \u201cstrengthen and develop\u201d their strategic partnership, the Russian defense chief added. <\/p>\n
The visit has been cited by Russian state media as Belousov\u2019s first to China since his appointment in May and comes days ahead of an expected visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Russia. <\/p>\n
Russia and China have been bolstering their security coordination in the face of shared frictions with the West. That\u2019s included ramping up joint military drills in recent months \u2013 part of what experts say is an effort to signal to Washington that, while the two are not allies, neither stands alone. <\/p>\n
During Tuesday\u2019s meeting, Zhang repeated rhetoric voiced by Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for the two militaries to \u201cdeepen and expand military-to-military relations, safeguard their respective national sovereignty, security and development interests, and jointly safeguard international and regional peace and stability,\u201d according to a readout from China\u2019s Defense Ministry. <\/p>\n
Belousov also held talks a day earlier with Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun, who ranks below Zhang in China\u2019s military hierarchy. <\/p>\n
The Russian defense chief\u2019s trip comes ahead of an expected visit by Chinese leader Xi Jinping to Kazan, Russia next week for a summit of BRICS, an economic grouping Moscow and Beijing see as their answer to the US-backed Group of Seven (G7). <\/p>\n
China\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has not confirmed Xi\u2019s travel plans, but the Kremlin last month quoted Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi as confirming the leader\u2019s attendance. The trip would be Xi\u2019s second to Russia since Putin\u2019s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the fifth face-to-face with Putin in the same period. <\/p>\n
Regular high-level diplomacy and increased security coordination between China and Russia have come under close scrutiny from the US and its allies, who have accused Beijing of enabling Russia\u2019s war through the provision of dual-use goods like machine tools and microelectronics. <\/p>\n
Beijing has defended what it calls its \u201cnormal trade\u201d with Russia and claims neutrality in the conflict. The two countries reached record levels of trade last year as China emerged as a key economic lifeline for Russia, which is strapped by war-related international sanctions. <\/p>\n
In recent weeks, Chinese and Russian coast guards conducted what Beijing described as their first joint patrol in the Arctic Ocean, while their navies separately practiced anti-submarine warfare in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, Russian state media said. <\/p>\n
The patrol followed a raft of joint exercises over the summer, including near Alaska \u2013 where US and Canadian forces intercepted Russian and Chinese bombers together for the first time \u2013 and in the South China Sea, a vital waterway claimed almost entirely by Beijing in which geopolitical tensions are rapidly rising. <\/p>\n
Belousov\u2019s arrival in Beijing Monday coincided with China\u2019s military flying a record number of fighter jets and other warplanes around Taiwan during large-scale military drills. <\/p>\n
China said the drills were intended as a \u201cstern warning\u201d to what it described as pro-independence forces in Taiwan. The drills came days after the island\u2019s new president, Lai Ching-te, gave a speech vowing to protect Taiwan\u2019s sovereignty in the face of challenges from Beijing, which claims the self-ruling democracy as its own. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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