Russian helicopters in China for joint anti-terrorism drills

BEIJING — Russian army helicopters have landed in northern China to take part in multinational anti-terrorism drills, underscoring continuing close ties between Beijing and Moscow despite tensions with the West over Ukraine.

Eight transport choppers landed on Sunday night at Zhurihe, China’s largest and most modern training base, located in the vast grasslands of Inner Mongolia, China’s official Xinhua news agency said yesterday.

China and Russia have set aside their Cold War rivalry and competition for regional influence to challenge the global order dominated by the United States and its allies in the West. Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and support for insurgents in eastern Ukraine are seen as drawing Moscow and Beijing closer, providing Russia with diplomatic cover and China with stronger leverage to acquire Russian natural resources.

Symbolic of Moscow’s moves towards Beijing is a US$400 billion (S$498 billion) deal signed in June to supply China with natural gas through a new pipeline. The deal came after decades of negotiations, with China reportedly receiving more favourable financial terms than Russia had been prepared to offer.

While urging negotiations to settle the Ukraine crisis, China has refrained from joining in the criticisms of Russia levelled by the US and its European allies, including over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine last month.

While Beijing officially eschews military alliances, it has conducted a series of drills with Russian forces, sometimes under the auspices of the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Central Asian grouping that is dominated by China and Russia and aims to challenge US influence in Asia.

Russia is despatching about 900 troops to take part in next week’s Peace Mission-2014 drills, which will involve more than 7,000 personnel. Fellow SCO members Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are also participating.

Russia’s Interfax-AVN military news agency cited Colonel Alexander Gordeev of the Eastern Military Region as saying the Russian contingent will include Mi-8 helicopters, Grad mobile rocket batteries, mine units and four Su-25 fighter jets.

Several SCO nations border Afghanistan and Pakistan and face threats from radical Islamic insurgents, providing the impetus for joint anti-terrorism training. AP