China to send troops to russia for joint military exercises

Beijing will send a contingent of its troops to russia to participate in joint military exercises

Radio Svoboda reports this with reference to the Ministry of Defense of China.

As noted in the publication, several other countries are also planning to participate in the exercises, including India, Belarus, Mongolia, and Tajikistan.

On August 17, the Ministry of Defense of China stated that participation in joint exercises "is not related to the current international and regional situation."

They obviously meant the ongoing full-scale aggression of the russian Federation against Ukraine.

The statement emphasized that the training is part of an ongoing bilateral annual cooperation agreement. Similar joint exercises led by russia with the participation of China have already taken place in recent years.

"The goal is to deepen pragmatic and friendly cooperation with the armies of the participating countries. To increase the level of strategic interaction between the parties and strengthen the ability to respond to various security threats," the message emphasizes.

In addition, on August 16, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe spoke via video at the 10th Moscow Conference on International Security.

At it, he stated, in particular, that China will protect not only peace but also its national interests and will not tolerate "separatist schemes" regarding the independence of Taiwan.

We will remind that China is among the countries that avoided the introduction of sanctions in response to russia's war against Ukraine.

In July 2022, United States Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that he disagreed with Beijing's claims of alleged neutrality in the russian-Ukrainian war.

He expressed concern to Washington "that China has sided with russia."

Read Rubryka's timeline of war: current news on Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression.