China + Russian Military Partnership

Geopolitics: As China cozies up to the world's dictators and our enemies, the first-ever bilateral military exercises between Russia and China are set to begin today. Are we ignoring our biggest threat?

Simulated land, sea and air operations are to be conducted in the Russian Far East and continue on to the Chinese coastal province of Shandong and the Yellow Sea. The joint exercises between a former Communist giant with plenty of military hardware to sell and the current Communist giant with plenty of money to spend does not bode well for the United States.

Speaking of the exercises, dubbed Peace Mission 2005, China's official New China News Agency said they "will help strengthen the capability of the two armed forces in jointly striking international terrorism, extremism and separatism."

That last reference was to Taiwan, and the joint exercises are meant to (1) demonstrate China's expanding military capabilities and (2) send a message to the U.S. to keep off the grass.

The weeklong exercises will involve about 10,000 troops and various advanced weapons systems that Russia hopes to sell to its former understudy. The merchandise includes long-range TU-95 and supersonic TU-22 bombers, both cruise-missile-capable and advanced SU-27 fighters, and an assortment of submarines and amphibious and anti-submarine ships -- all useful in a Chinese blockade and/or an outright invasion of its "lost province" of Taiwan.

Jane's Defense Weekly reports that workers at China's Dalyan Shipyard have been busily repairing the former Soviet Kusnetsov-class aircraft carrier Varyag, purchased from Ukraine in 1998, painting it with the colors and markings of the People's Liberation Navy. This would represent a significant step towards China's goal of a blue-water fleet.

China is preparing to challenge our military supremacy in the Western Pacific while keeping us busy on the world stage. It is building alliances with thugs and dictators and locking up energy resources, guaranteeing a steady supply for its rapidly growing military-industrial complex.

Major energy deals have been signed with rogue regimes in Sudan and Iran. And while China has not deployed its military forces abroad in any significant way for five centuries, it did deploy 4,000 troops to Sudan five years ago to protect its investment in oil there and prop up the genocidal regime in Khartoum. Sudan exports 60% of its oil to China.

China, now the world's second-largest energy importer, receives an estimated 14% of its oil from Iran. Last November, China and Iran signed a 25-year energy deal worth an estimated $100 billion over the next decade alone.

Such huge deals are a direct challenge to U.S. efforts to isolate Iran and deny it the funds to finance a military buildup. The CIA, in a report to Congress, said Chinese firms "have helped Iran move towards its goal of becoming self-sufficient in the production of ballistic missiles."

Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe recently got a warm welcome in Beijing, where he sealed a deal for Chinese economic assistance and was hailed as "a man devoted to world peace and a good friend of the Chinese people." In Zimbabwe, China seeks mining rights.

China has been active in our own hemisphere with heavy investments planned or under way in Brazil and Argentina. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez also visited Beijing late last year and announced plans for China to invest in several of his country's oil fields and refineries.

China's getting ready for something, and it isn't the 2008 Olympics.

http://biz.yahoo.com/ibd/050817/issues.html

Interesting stuff, perhaps we have been concentrating on the wrong countries after all :eek:

Regards,

Lee