China to send troops to Russia for joint military drills

BEIJING, Aug 18 (AFP): Chinese troops will travel to Russia to take part in joint military drills, Beijing's defence ministry said.
Beijing and Moscow have close defence links and China has said it wants to push bilateral relations "to a higher level," even as Moscow faces international sanctions and widespread condemnation over its war in Ukraine.
China's defence ministry said Wednesday its participation in the annual "Vostok" exercises-which Moscow has said will take place from August 20 to September 5 -- is part of a bilateral 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 Chinese defence ministry said in a statement.
India, Belarus, Mongolia, Tajikistan and other countries will also participate, it said.
China and India have been accused of providing diplomatic cover for Russia throughout its months-long war in Ukraine by opposing Western sanctions and arms sales to Kyiv.
But Beijing insisted its participation in the joint exercises was "unrelated to the current international and regional situation."
It is the second joint military exercise conducted by Chinese and Russian troops this year.
Bombers from the two countries conducted a 13-hour drill close to Japan and South Korea in May, forcing those countries to scramble jet fighters, as US President Joe Biden was visiting Tokyo.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that while warming ties between China and Russia undermined global security, Washington didn't "read anything" into the drills.
"Most of the participating countries also routinely participate in a wide array of military exercises and exchanges with the United States as well," he told a press conference.
A Reuters report adds: The United States expects China to continue its pressure campaign against Taiwan, Daniel Kritenbrink, the top US diplomat for East Asia, said on Wednesday, adding that Beijing’s words and actions have been deeply destabilising.
China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has been carrying out war games and military drills around the island this month to show its anger at a visit to Taipei by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Speaking on a conference call, Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs said China had used Pelosi’s trip as an excuse to change the status quo.
“The PRC has used visit of the US Speaker of the House of Representatives, a visit that is consistent with our one China policy and is not unprecedented, as a pretext to launch an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan and to try to change the status quo, jeopardizing peace and stability across the strait and in the broader region,” he said.
China’s formal name is the People’s Republic of China.
China will continue to pressure Taiwan, Kritenbrink added.
US policy towards Taiwan remains consistent and Washington does not support the island’s formal independence, Kritenbrink said.