|
Sino-Russian war games that kicked off on Thursday attracted observers from eight nations -- the other members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan), India, Pakistan, Mongolia and Iran. But in what observers see as a sign that China is drawing the lines of a new post-Cold War order, the U.S. and its regional allies Japan and South Korea were refused observer status.
The exercises are part of a change in China's military strategy under its fourth-generation leadership led by President Hu Jintao, from splendid isolation toward bilateral and multilateral military cooperation. In October 2002, China conducted its first joint military exercises since the founding of the People's Liberation Army, with Kyrgyzstan along the border between the two nations. Those were followed by exercises with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Pakistan, India, France, the U.K. and Australia.
The SCO states are becoming China¡¯s core military allies. A Chinese-promoted multilateral cooperative body formed in 2002, it has six members -- China, Russia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. At an SCO summit held in July in the Kazakh capital of Astana, the group called for the U.S. to pull its troops out of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan because member states felt their regimes threatened by the "color revolutions" -- civil revolts in the Central Asian region they suspect Washington had a hand in.
China improved relations with neighbors Russia, India and Vietnam that it fought border conflicts with in the past. Beijing¡¯s ties with Moscow have improved to the point of a military alliance, and relations with the other two have moved past hostility. President Hu invited Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong to a summit in July where the two leaders agreed to decide their border by 2008 at the latest. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao met with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in India in April, with the two agreeing on principles to decide their border and boost economic and trade cooperation.
During a visit to China in April, Australian Prime Minister John Howard acknowledged China as a full market economy. Late last year, Australia said it would not unconditionally take sides with the U.S. in the event of a clash in the Taiwan Strait. Canberra¡¯s move defied U.S. opposition because of its massive exports of raw materials such as iron ore to the raw materials black hole that is the world¡¯s most populous country.
Beijing is also strengthening ties with France and Germany, two EU nations with an interest in exporting arms to China, while putting intense pressure on Japan, a key U.S. ally, by opposing its entry into the UN Security Council.
In August 2003, a PLA delegation visited North Korea to meet with its leader Kim Jong-il, while in October that year North Korea held events marking the 52nd anniversary of the PLA's participation in the Korean War. Analysts say China wants to use North Korea as a strategic lever in a confrontation with the U.S.-Japan alliance over the Korean Peninsula.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
