Sino-Russian Ties Strengthen

From several sources, news comes that Russia and China are forming an anti-American military alliance. At RealClear Politics is an article by Peter Brookes on the first-ever joint military exercise held by the countries.

This week will see an ominous precedent: The first- ever joint Chinese-Russian military exercises kick off Thursday in Northeast Asia.

The exercises are small in scale -- but huge in implication. They indicate a further warming of the "strategic partnership" that Moscow and Beijing struck back in 1996.

The exercises are both a threatening gesture towards Taiwan and an opportunity for the former superpower to showcase military hardware it hopes to sell to China.

For instance, although Russia nixed the idea, the Chinese demanded the exercises be held 500 miles to the south -- a move plainly aimed at intimidating Taiwan.

Beijing clearly wanted to send a warning to Washington (and, perhaps, Tokyo) about its support for Taipei, and hint at the possibility that if there were a Taiwan Strait dust-up, Russia might stand with China.

The exercise also gives Russia an opportunity to strut its military wares before its best customers -- Chinese generals. Moscow is Beijing's largest arms supplier, to the tune of more than $2 billion a year for purchases that include subs, ships, missiles and fighters.

Bill Gertz (via TIA Daily) also addresses this unfortunate development. I also would agree with Robert Tracinski that this signals the absorption of Russia into China's "zombie empire".

-- CAV