China to participate in ‘Vostok’ military exercise in Russia

Asia-Pacific, Europe, News August 17, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

China is sending its troops to participate in the Russian-led joint military exercise along with India, Belarus, Mongolia Tajikistan, and other countries.

Moscow announced its plans to host the “Vostok” exercise last month. The military exercises would take place from August 30 to September 5. At that time of the announcement, Russia indicated that Vostok would be a joint multinational exercise and military units from several countries would participate, however, no details were provided about the countries that had confirmed their participation in the war games.

Vostok translates to ‘East’ in Russian. Vostok is a large-scale military exercise organized by Russia’s Eastern military district in Khabarovsk, Siberia, near the China-Russia border. The previous edition of the Vostok exercise was organized in 2018. more than 300,000 soldiers participated in that event including units from the Chinese military.

Chinese Defense Ministry statement stated that “In accordance with the annual plan for cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries and the bilateral agreements the PLA will soon delegate and send part of its forces to Russia for participation in the Vostok-2022 exercise.”

*^{Russia participates in its biggest military exercise together with China and Mongolia in Vostok 2018. (Image Credit: AP/Sergei Grits)}*

Arranging a large-scale military exercise while managing a costly five-month-long military campaign in Ukraine is Russia’s attempt to mark a statement that Moscow is also focused on defending its territories on the Eastern fronts.

According to the statement released by the Chinese Ministry of Defense, China’s participation in the joint military exercises is “unrelated to the current international and regional situation.” the statement further said that China’s participation in the exercise is a part of ongoing bilateral cooperation between China and 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.

Russia and China held a large-scale joint military exercise one year ago in August 2021. More than 10,000 Russian and Chinese troops participated in joint military exercises in the north-central Ningxia region. The two countries also held joint naval drills in October 2021.

^{Two missiles fly over the training ground Tsugol, about 80 kilometers north of the city of Chita during the military exercises Vostok 2018 in Eastern Siberia, Russia on September 13, 2018. (Image Credit: AP/Sergei Grits)}

Chinese and Russian military security interests have aligned in recent times especially in the Indo-Pacific region as the U.S. has been actively rallying support allies against the increasing influence of the China-Russia bloc.

Shortly before Russia initiated the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Beijing and Moscow announced a ‘no limit’ partnership with each other on all fronts. Although China does not openly support Russia in its campaign in Ukraine by providing weapons, China is among the countries that have avoided imposing sanctions on Russia despite Western pressure. China’s participation in the Vostok war games provides another significant clue about the state of its bilateral relations with Russia.