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Russia-Chicom war games viewed as prep for NORK collapse
From East-Asia-Intel, subscription req'd. China and Russia have been emphatic in denying that their recent, first-ever joint military exercise was targeted at neighboring countries. Hokay, I was worried about that one. Now everything is clear. However defense officials in Tokyo and Seoul said one purpose of the massive war games was to prepare contingency responses to the eventual collapse of the North Korean regime. Which is prudent if the Chicoms and Russians do not want a free and independent Korea at their doorstep. [snip] China and Russia held their first joint military exercises, code-named Peace Mission 2005, from Aug. 18 to Aug. 25. The one-week maneuvers, which involved 10,000 troops from the two countries, started in Vladivostok in Russia's Far East bordering North Korea's northeast region, and later moved to China's Shandong Peninsula, west of North Korea. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the joint exercise was not targeted at any third party, concerned the interests of any third country, or posed a threat to any country. He said the drills were meant to boost both countries' capabilities in responding to possible threats to the region, including attempts by terrorists to acquire powerful weapons. Sounds like a trendy excuse. But military and defense officials in Japan and South Korea said the Russia-China games rehearsed the joint occupation of North Korea in case of political turmoil in the troubled communist country. "The militaries of China and Russia intended to use their joint drills to examine their capabilities to occupy North Korea in case of its collapse ahead of joint forces between the United Sates and South Korea," a Japanese Defense Agency official was quoted in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun daily. Russia and China said the military drills were based on a scenario in which the two countries, acting under UN authority, aimed to stabilize a country plunged into violence by ethnic strife. This could refer to possible conflicts between North Korea and U.S.-backed South Korea. Typical Communist statement. "The scenario could be used in the event of sudden disappearance of Kim Jong-Il from the political leadership," the Japanese defense official said. Nam Joo-Hong, a strategy expert at Kyonggi University in Seoul, said the Russo-China war games were largely aimed at boosting their joint capabilities in responding to possible turmoil in North Korea and Taiwan. The military drills were originally planned to take place in China's western region to combat Islamic extremism and separatism in Central Asia, Nam and other analysts said. But later the venue was changed to China's Shandong Peninsula across the Yellow Sea from North Korea and Russia's Vladivostok, which borders North Korea. "The two nations changed the sites for their military exercise to boost their joint efforts to counter the U.S.-led allies in East Asia," said Kim Sung-Han, an analyst at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, a government think tank in Seoul. Our ally in fighting global terrorism, Mother Russia. According to other sources in Seoul, China's People's Liberation Army had moved more than 30,000 troops to border areas with North Korea last month in an apparent exercise to stem the inflow of North Korean refugee-seekers or to occupy the country in case of emergency. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld downplayed the war games as not threatening, but said Washington was monitoring the exercises. Adm. Gary Roughead, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said the Navy was "very interested" in the military exercise, particularly in what systems the parties used and how they handled command-and-control issues. He naturally would be. The U.S. Pacific Command sent EP-3 surveillance aircraft and two Navy surveillance ships to waters near the exercises. And fighter escorts nearby, I would hope. Posted by: Alaska Paul 2005-09-01 |
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