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August 22, 2005
Russia, China: 'Brothers In Arms Again?'
In the August 18, 2005 edition of PacNet Newsletter, the "weekly publication generated from a network of policy research institutes by Pacific Forum CSIS," Elizabeth Wishnick, assistant professor of political science at Montclair State University and a research associate at Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asian Institute, notes that:Originally Russia proposed holding the exercise [known as Peace Mission 2005] in Xinjiang, due to its proximity to the Russian air base in Kyrgyzstan. Instead, the PRC [Peoples Republic of China] suggested Zhejiang province, across from Taiwan. When the Russian side rejected that location as too provocative, the two countries agreed to hold the exercise in Shandong province.
Ms. Wishnick said, "Peace Mission 2005 follows on previous SCO [Shanghai Cooperation Organization] counterterrorism exercises in Kyrgyzstan in 2002 and in Kazakhstan and China in 2003, but is distinctive in its composition and unexpected location. Peace Mission 2005 posits a hypothetical ethnic conflict breaking out in a third country, which appeals to its neighbors and the UN for help," she wrote. "Given China's opposition to participating in most international interventions, this scenario is puzzling enough, but the details of the exercises raise further questions."
For more, see "Brothers in arms again? Assessing the Sino-Russian military exercises."
Posted by Munir Umrani at August 22, 2005 02:04 AM
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