Drills with Russia toasted
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-08-26 16:04

China praised its first joint military exercises with Russia on Friday for lifting relations to an all-time high and opening room for further cooperation, AFP reported.

Chinese marines line the beach with amphibious vehicles in Qingdao during Sino-Russian joint military exercise. The US military is observing the first big military drills between China and Russia but does not regard them as a threat to the Taiwan Region, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said. [AFP/Xinhua]

Eight days of drills involving more than 10,000 troops from Russian and Chinese armies, navies and air forces concluded on Thursday with a practice air and ground assault in China's eastern Shandong province.

The last event on the schedule was an outside "family-style lunch" of noodles, braised eggplant and fried fish washed down with beer as tank engines roared in the background, Xinhua news agency said.

"Through the exercises, the two armed forces... improved their capabilities to meet new challenges and threats and to fight international terrorism, extremism and separatism," Xinhua quoted Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan as saying.

"China and Russia have reached an unprecedented height in their strategic partnership," it said in a commentary.

Ties between Beijing and Moscow have grown closer in recent years around points of common ground that include concern about instability in Central Asia. The two countries, which share a 4,300-km (2,700-mile) frontier, are also players in six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear crisis, reflecting shared security interests.

China has been looking to Russia for energy resources to feed its booming economy, while Moscow is keen to boost sales to Beijing of military hardware like the advanced bombers and fighter jets showcased during military drills.

China's People's Daily said on Friday the two countries would increase military trade from the current volume of $60 billion to $80 billion by 2010.

China would also pour $12 billion of investment into Russia's energy sector and infrastructure construction before 2020, the newspaper said.

"The drills also made clear that China is willing to cooperate with other countries militarily and is serious about learning from its peers as it modernizes its armed forces," Xinhua said.

"More moves to deepen China's military communication with other countries can be expected."

The exercises kicked off on August 18 with consultations and battle planning on Russia's Pacific coast near Vladivostok and moved to China's Shandong peninsula for live-fire drills including a joint offshore blockade and amphibious landing.

Xinhua quoted Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying Russia and China may hold more joint military exercises in the future.

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