Chinese Military To Participate In Joint Exercises In Russia

China's Defence Ministry has issued a statement confirming that Chinese troops will travel to Russia to participate in the "Vostok" joint military exercises with a number of countries including Russia, India, Mongolia, and Belarus from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5.

• Reuters wrote on July 26 when exercises were announced: "The previous Vostok drills in 2018 took place on a massive scale with nearly 300,000 troops reported to be involved, including for the first time from the Chinese army. Whether and on what scale China takes part this year will provide significant clues to the state of bilateral relations as Putin attempts to court Beijing at a time of heightened confrontation between Russia and the West."
• Since that announcement, relations between China and the West have deteriorated to multi-decade lows in the wake of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) CODEL to Taiwan. Chinese officials have since talked up the significance of the Sino-Russia relationship sparking fears in the West that Beijing may be prepared to offer material support to the Russian war effort.
• According the Chinese Defence Ministry, the exercises are part on an ongoing bilateral cooperation agreement with Russia.
• The involvement of India will be of concern to the West in the light of increased economic cooperation between Moscow and Delhi.
• Mathieu Boulegue, of Chatham House has questioned the capacity for the Russian military to operate large-scale exercises: "A lot of troops and gear from the eastern MD (military district) have already been deployed, rotated, lost and killed in Ukraine since February, so this will be interesting to see what they can salvage."