According to the latest confidential information disclosed by Ukraine, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is sending around 600 military personnel to Russia for specialized military training, focusing on combat skills against Western weapons systems. Experts believe that this move signifies a strategic shift in Sino-Russian relations from “unlimited cooperation” towards a substantial military alliance.
Experts analyze that China aims to acquire modern warfare experience to strategically prepare for potential military conflicts in the Taiwan Strait, while Russia hopes to deepen CCP’s substantial involvement in European warfare to further solidify their alliance relationship. However, Europe is strengthening its strategic vigilance against CCP and considering countermeasures.
The Kyiv Post recently cited authoritative sources from the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Agency, revealing that the Kremlin has made an official decision to host these Chinese military personnel in various major Russian military bases and training centers.
The Russian military training program will cover core military areas such as tank operation techniques, artillery combat strategies, military engineering, and the use of air defense systems, aiming to comprehensively impart the valuable combat experience gained by the Russian military in combat against Ukraine.
The strategic background of this military cooperation plan lies in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine for over three years, where the Russian military has accumulated significant combat experience in countering Western advanced weapon systems. The Ukrainian intelligence assesses that this move clearly indicates the intention of the Russian regime to establish a closer military alliance relationship with the CCP to engage in strategic confrontation with the Western camp on a global scale.
In the meantime, Ukrainian President Zelensky recently pointed out that the CCP has implemented a noticeable differentiation policy in supplying drones. He stated that China has completely halted the sale of drone equipment to Ukraine and other European countries but continues to provide relevant military supplies to Russia. There are multiple drone production lines operational in Russia with direct Chinese technical involvement.
Dr. Zhong Zidong from the Institute of Defense Strategy and Resources at the Taiwan Institute of National Defense and Security Studies stated to Epoch Times that the large-scale military cooperation between China and Russia fully reflects a significant strategic shift in their relationship towards a substantive military alliance.
Dr. Zhong Zidong deeply analyzed the strategic objectives of China dispatching 600 military personnel to Russia for training in three dimensions:
Firstly, from the standpoint of military capability construction, the Chinese military has long lacked actual combat experience in modern warfare and urgently needs to acquire valuable combat experience and tactical wisdom by studying the modern warfare exemplar presented by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Secondly, considering that the Ukrainian armed forces primarily equip Western weapons systems, the Chinese military can take advantage of this opportunity to conduct in-depth research and gain insights into effective methods to counter Western weapon systems, strategically preparing for possible military conflicts in the Taiwan Strait in the future.
Dr. Zhong Zidong particularly emphasized, “From the perspective of Taiwan’s military force composition, which primarily adopts American equipment systems and operational guidelines, China can systematically grasp combat methods against Western weapon systems by thoroughly researching the practical effects of Ukraine’s use of American weapons in the conflict with Russia.”
Thirdly, the training program this time focuses on tank driving techniques, artillery combat, military engineering, and professional air defense, precisely reflecting the combat characteristics dominated by land-based and aerial warfare in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Dr. Zhong Zidong stressed that the enhancement of air defense combat capability is crucial, stating, “In the current operational environment where drones and precision-guided missiles are the primary attack means, effectively countering airborne threats has become a key issue in modern warfare.”
Dr. Shen Mingshi, a researcher at the Taiwan Institute of National Defense and Security Studies, further analyzed from the perspective of military talent development that the 600 military personnel dispatched by China should come from elite forces of various military services, with the core goal of cultivating a team of “seed instructors” with modern combat experience. By directly participating in and observing real combat in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, they systematically gain first-hand experience in modern warfare.
“These 600 individuals may be just the first batch, and the Chinese military-industrial department may have sent personnel to the front lines in Russia or Ukraine to conduct in-depth research on war experiences,” Shen Mingshi believes that China’s goal is to bring back the experience of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine through these personnel for optimizing troop training and operational strategies.
Regarding the deep strategic motives of Russia agreeing to provide such advanced military training, Dr. Zhong Zidong analyzed from a geopolitical perspective that they are based mainly on two core considerations:
On one hand, Russia intends to further strengthen its special strategic relationship with China in a “de facto military alliance” without the formal name, while expecting China to provide more concrete and substantial military technical support and economic assistance as a strategic return.
On the other hand, Russia seeks to deepen military cooperation to “involve China more deeply in European warfare,” further increasing China’s substantial involvement in European security affairs, breaking the relative neutral stance maintained by China on the surface, and comprehensively consolidating the stability and permanence of the Russia-China strategic alliance relationship.
Dr. Zhong Zidong further pointed out that although China and Russia have not signed a traditional formal military alliance treaty, they have effectively formed a “military alliance relationship with substantial content but without a formal name.”
Since the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, China has shown clear favoritism towards Russia in policy positions by significantly purchasing Russian energy products and mineral raw materials, supporting Russia economically to maintain its war capability while providing political support at international diplomatic events.
On June 23rd, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte issued a stern warning ahead of the NATO summit that China’s continuous advancement of large-scale military modernization is significantly increasing the real possibility of military action against Taiwan.
He emphasized that in the event of a large-scale military conflict in the Taiwan Strait, Russia is likely to create larger-scale military chaos on the European battlefield to divert NATO’s strategic attention and military resources, posing an unprecedented serious threat to the security and stability of the entire Europe.
Faced with the long-term strategic threats from Russia and the rapid expansion of China’s military power, coupled with multidimensional support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by North Korea, China, and Iran, Rutte emphasized that NATO must significantly strengthen overall defense capability construction.
Given the severity and complexity of the current global security situation, NATO is seriously considering raising member states’ defense expenditure targets from the current 2% of GDP to 5%, to better adapt to the new global security landscape and strategic challenges.
In response to related accusations and doubts, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun denied them at the routine press conference on June 26th, emphasizing that “China has always been a staunch builder and defender of world peace.” He further stated, “On the issue of Ukraine, China has always been committed to urging peace and negotiations, actively promoting the political resolution of crises, and has never provided weapons to any warring party.”
However, according to reports from Ukrainian media, since Russia launched comprehensive military operations against Ukraine in February 2022, despite China’s public claims to maintain strict neutrality in the conflict, Western countries continue to accuse China of providing substantial strategic support to Russia in economic, trade, and diplomatic aspects.
In the face of the deepening military cooperation between China and Russia, European countries are readjusting their policies towards China. Zhong Zidong mentioned that with the escalating support from China to Russia, Europe’s “de-risking” policy is likely to gradually evolve into a more stringent “decoupling policy.”
He predicted that if China’s level of involvement in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to deepen, European countries’ intervention in Taiwan and South China Sea affairs will also intensify accordingly.
As a strategic countermeasure, Europe is comprehensively strengthening its deep involvement in affairs in the Indo-Pacific region, especially on core issues concerning the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea.
French President Emmanuel Macron and multiple European leaders recently warned at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that the deepening strategic cooperation between China and Russia poses a significant threat to the global security order, calling for cooperation between European and Asian countries to address this “most severe challenge” currently.