Russia and China have become allies, but this will not last long

The Russian Army completed the largest post - Cold War military exercise in Siberia on Sunday, with a series of training involving Chinese troops. But the game of war, represents a temporary partnership and for conjuctural effects, and not an alliance formed against the United States, say former US government officials and experts on Russia.

Russian government-controlled media have trumpeted the exercises as the largest in decades, including 300 thousand troops, exercised to protect the country against sea and air attacks, and the spread of war lessons taught in Syria.

Three thousand Chinese troops participate in the exercise. The Pentagon and American intelligence agencies closely attended the five-day exercise that began on September 11th, and included helicopters and parachuted landings by Russian infantry forces. Satellite images also showed formations of armoured vehicles, which paraded in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

But people with a direct experience in the Russian Army study say the figure of troops involved is inflated. I think maybe they're hyperbolizing their size” -- said General Ben Hodge, now retired, who was the top commander of the American Army in Europe, until the beginning of this year.

Houdge noted that during last year's “Zapat 2017” training in Russia's European birth, the Russians did the opposite, claiming they had committed only 13,000 troops, “when every professional soldier and observer knew there were about 100,000 troops”.

The last exercise, which began Tuesday, is known as “Vosto 2018x1>, under the name of the eastern military district where it is developing. It was carried out nine months after US Defence Secretary James Matisse unveiled a new national defence strategy, which highlights the “strategic competition” of Russia and China, and amid the deterioration of US relations with both countries.

The war games in the Far East of Russia are not subject to monitoring by international military observers, which could provide a verification of the figures Moscow provides, says Michael Koufman, who studies the Russian Army at the Centre for Marine Analysis, a think-tank linked to the American government.

That, according to him, means that the Russian “military can increase the figures for Vostok training, in a way they cannot do for others”- he said. It's a very big exercise, but I doubt it'll be less than 100 thousand troops”. Some Russian observers have dedicated more importance to the presence of Chinese troops, especially because former Russian exercises in the region are believed to have been designed in part to be prepared for potential Chinese attacks.

“Russia is telling Beijing that it is no longer at the centre of Russian planning in the Far East, and signals the US and NATO that if the relationship remains bad, Russia has other options -- says Jeffrey Mankof of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, and former US-Russia relations adviser at the State Department.

Russia and China are not “allies, but in response to pressure from the United States, they are signaling that they no longer see each other as a threat, Koufman added. “Both named

As strategic competitors in the American national defence strategy”.

But senior American officials saw it as a “marriage of” of comfort, and not one event that can last on time, due to the great competition between Moscow and Beijing.

“I don't see any long-term prospects, harmonising Russia and China” -- Matis told reporters earlier this week.

Others agree. “These exercises, were planned months, if not years ago, and are not something that happened overnight” - points out the “Atlantic Council”, which helped monitor Russia's policy as an official of the Pentagon of the Obama administration. I don't believe this exercise, it's about a broader alliance against the United States. But obviously, these two countries will continue to cooperate to sabotage American interests in Asia”.

Mankoff, former Russian State Department adviser, shares the same opinion. “The Russian Remote Order is very remote from its territory NATO, and I don't think that China in particular, is aiming to include it in war”- he said. “There is nothing to indicate provocation or threat to NATO. The Russians and the Chinese are not preparing to start a war against anyone.

At a more practical military level, the Russian and Chinese armies benefit from training mostly because the scale of “Vostok 201818x1> is smaller than Russia's claims, but still greater than the similar NATO exercises, which mostly include up to 40,000 troops.

The “exercise underlines” the importance Russia gives to a massive mobilization and long-distance dissolving force -- says Jan Brzhinski, a former Pentagon official who oversaw NATO and Europe policy in George W.Bus administration. “This is disturbing, as the US and NATO do not conduct exercises of these dimensions”- he added.

The exercise also offers the opportunity to spread lectures that the Russian Army has learned in Syria, Koufman thinks. While the Russian military presence in Syria is small, all Russian military branches have used the exercise as an opportunity to include as many high officials as possible to gain experience in the real world.

Moscow officially denies that the exercise has focused on any potential enemy. “Vostok 2018 is not against other countries, but in accordance with our military doctrine, which is protective in its character”- said Nikolai Lakhonin, a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Washington.

But the US Army has called on Russia to reveal more details about the training. Meanwhile, for the Chinese, war games are “an opportunity to learn from the Russians some lessons on mobilizing and establishing force, areas where China has a long way to do” -- says retired General Bill Hicks, who by the spring of this year helped oversee American Army efforts, modernise a potential future conflict with a great power, and closely observes Russian military developments.

But actually the Russians need the Chinese, more than the opposite, Brzezyski says. “I don't see the Chinese taking the Russians seriously as a key strategic partner”- he said. The Chinese military subx2... It shadows the Russian. What is happening is a tactical collaboration, rather than strategic”- he says.

Source: “Politico.eu” / Translate: The world..