Chinese troops will travel to
Russia to take part in joint military exercises led by the host and including
India, Belarus, Mongolia, Tajikistan and other countries, China’s defence
ministry said on Wednesday.
China’s participation in the
joint exercises was “unrelated to the current international and regional
situation”, the ministry said in a statement.
Last month, Moscow announced
plans to hold “Vostok” (East) exercises from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, even
as it wages a costly war in Ukraine. It said at the time that some foreign
forces would participate, without naming them.
China’s defence ministry said
its participation in the exercises was part of an ongoing bilateral annual
cooperation agreement with Russia.
“The aim is to deepen
practical and friendly cooperation with the armies of participating countries,
enhance the level of strategic collaboration among the participating parties,
and strengthen the ability to respond to various security threats,” the
statement said.
Under Chinese President Xi
Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Beijing and Moscow have
grown increasingly close.
A year ago this month, Russia
and China held joint military exercises in north-central China involving more
than 10,000 troops. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu praised the
Sibu/Cooperation-2021 drills in China’s Ningxia and suggested they could be
developed further.
