A major row erupted between China and Russia over the location for joint military exercises, a Russian newspaper reported on Thursday.
According to the Kommersant daily, the Russian military had suggested the Xinjiang autonomous region of China, because of the area's problem with Uighur separatists and its proximity to Central Asia, a focus for the international fight against terrorism.
However, Beijing flatly rejected the proposal, and instead suggested Zhejiang Province near Taiwan.
Exercises in this area, the Kommersant noted in its report, "would look too provocative and trigger a strong reaction not only in Taiwan, but in the United States and Japan, which recently included the island in their zone of common strategic interests."
"Beijing is trying to use Russia as an additional lever of pressure on the disobedient island," it said.
However, the official Xinhua news agency reported late on Thursday that the two countries had agreed on details of their first joint military exercise, to be held in autumn, after Russian Chief of General Staff Yury Baluyevsky met his Chinese counterpart,Chief of General Staff Liang Guanglie (梁光烈), in Beijing.
Xinhua said the two generals had agreed on the make-up of troops, arms and equipment for the military exercise.
Due to the Russia's insistence, the exercise was shifted north to the Shandong Peninsula, the Kommersant said.
Baluyevsky said the exercise was aimed at boosting cooperation between the militaries of the two countries and improving training capabilities, reflecting closer ties between the two countries, Xinhua said.
"Russian paratroopers, marines and other forces will take part in the exercise," Baluyevsky was quoted as saying.
Liang also praised what he called the strengthening strategic partnership between China and Russia, Xinhua reported.
"Closer cooperation and exchanges between the two armies are of great importance in promoting the cooperation between the two countries and maintaining regional and international security," Liang was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
The joint exercises had originally been planned for last August.
The exercises will involve Il-76 transport planes carrying paratroopers, Tu-95MS strategic bombers firing cruise missiles at simulated targets in the sea and Su-27SM fighter jets simulating coverage of ground forces, according to Russian media reports.
The exercises are seen as part of Russia's desire to strengthen military cooperation with China, in response to the cooling of relations with the US and other Western nations. China, for its part, has been courting oil-rich Russia as it seeks to diversify its energy sources to feed its booming economy.
Russian military officials have said they also hope to encourage China to buy the bombers involved in the training.
Also see story:
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Donald Trump vowed to reward his supporters, while President William Lai said he was confident the Taiwan-US partnership would continue Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the US early yesterday morning, an extraordinary comeback for a former president who was convicted of felony charges and survived two assassination attempts. With a win in Wisconsin, Trump cleared the 270 electoral votes needed to clinch the presidency. As of press time last night, The Associated Press had Trump on 277 electoral college votes to 224 for US Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic Party’s nominee, with Alaska, Arizona, Maine, Michigan and Nevada yet to finalize results. He had 71,289,216 votes nationwide, or 51 percent, while Harris had 66,360,324 (47.5 percent). “We’ve been through so
The US will continue its friendly approach toward Taiwan in the next US administration and Taiwan would work to prevent China “making trouble” during the transition, a senior Taiwanese security official said yesterday. Former US president Donald Trump, the Republican candidate who claimed victory in Tuesday’s vote against US Vice President Kamala Harris of the Democratic Party, made comments on the campaign trail that Taiwan should pay to be protected and also accused the nation of “stealing” American semiconductor business. Taiwan has faced military pressure from Beijing over the past five years, including four major rounds of war games in the past