China's Army Sharpens War Fighting on NATO's Doorstep

China has kicked off 11 days of joint combat training with Russian ally Belarus near the latter's border with NATO member Poland, in what the security alliance told Newsweek points to strengthening bonds among authoritarian states.

Chinese army troops taking part in the 11-day series of drills, dubbed Eagle Assault 2024, arrived on Saturday at the Brestsky training site near the western Belarus city of Brest, China's Defense Ministry said.

On July 4, Belarus became the 10th member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. This is an intergovernmental alliance founded in 2001 by China and Russia, with Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, to promote cooperation across the security, economic, and political spheres.

Belarus remains the closest of isolated Russia's allies since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and has allowed Moscow to station tactical nuclear weapons on its territory.

China's Defense Ministry said the exercises aim to boost the combat technical level of participating forces and would "further deepen military exchanges and cooperation between the two countries." The training would focus on anti-terrorist operations including hostage rescue, the ministry added.

Major General Vadim Denisenko, Belarusian commander of Special Operations Forces, said the training would see troops from both countries combined in the same units.

NATO says it will remain vigilant. "The China-Belarus exercise near Poland illustrates the growing relationship between authoritarian powers," a spokesperson for the alliance told Newsweek.

"Belarus and China both support Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine," the spokesperson added. "In response to Russia's war in Ukraine, we have significantly boosted our military presence on the alliance's eastern flank to prevent war and send a clear message to Russia that we are ready to defend all allies."

Beijing hasn't condemned the Russian invasion and has characterized it as a crisis caused by NATO expansion in Europe. China's vigilant government censors have scrubbed anti-war criticism of Moscow from Chinese social-media platforms, and Ukraine says Chinese components have been found in Russian military tech such as drones.

Asked about the deployment of China's forces to Belarus during the Chinese Foreign Ministry's regular press conference on Monday, ministry spokesperson Lin Jian rejected any comparison between the exercise and a reciprocal access agreement the Philippines and Japan signed that day on mutual visits by each other's military forces.

The agreement, inked by Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Philippine defense chief Gilberto Teodoro, was the latest step by the neighbors to strengthen their military partnership as they remain engaged in long-running territorial disputes with China.

The China-Belarus drills coincide with the U.S.-led Rim of the Pacific exercise, the world's largest international maritime exercise, which will see the participation of more than 40 warships, and over 25,000 personnel from about 30 countries.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, NATO, and the Belarusian Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.

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