- Peace Mission 2005
Peace Mission 2005 was the first ever joint military exercise between China and
Russia . The exercise started onAugust 19 ,2005 , and consisted of combined land, sea, and air elements simulating an intervention in a state besieged by terrorists or political turmoil. It concluded onAugust 25 ,2005 . The force practiced air and navalblockade s, an amphibious assault, and occupying a region. Approximately 8,000 Chinese troops took part along with 2,000 Russians troops. China initially wanted to hold the exercise near theTaiwan Strait , Russia wanted to hold the exercise inNorthwestern China near central Asia, but instead settlement was made on theShandong Peninsula .There are a number of reasons for the exercise including:
* China is the largest consumer ofRussian military technology. The exercise will showcase the Russian weapons including theTupolev Tu-22M andTupolev Tu-95 long rangebombers .
* The two countries are by far the most influential in theShanghai Cooperation Organization and the exercise will help to strengthenmilitary ties.
* Both countries have stated that the exercise is not directed at any one country, but many believed to be a show of force against theUnited States and particularlyTaiwan .The
United States was not invited to observe the exercise, but did observe using satellite reconnaissance. The stated reason for the exercise iscounter-terrorism , however many analysts agree that the use of such heavy firepower, including long range bombers, is not necessary.It has been recently argued that the exercise was not - as previously assumed - aimed to intimidate Taiwan but instead considered a post-Kim Jong Il regime collapse scenario.
ources
* [http://www.forbes.com/columnists/2005/08/18/russia-china-maneuvers-commentary-cx_as_0819russchina.html Forbes]
* [http://in.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-08-19T211001Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-213230-1.xml Reuters India]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1552199,00.html Guardian UK again]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/19/war19.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/08/19/ixworld.html Telegraph]
* [http://news.ft.com/cms/s/cb5496f6-104d-11da-bd5c-00000e2511c8.html Financial Times]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.