By Wu Dahui

吴大辉

The troops assigned to the Chinese PLA Northern Theater Command, along with Russian naval and air forces, recently participated in the China-Russia "Northern/Interaction-2023" exercise held in the waters of the Sea of Japan in accordance with the two militaries' annual cooperation program. The exercise, which lasted till July 23, has captured close attention from various sides.

近日，中国人民解放军北部战区在日本海中部组织“北部·联合-2023”军事演习。根据中俄两军年度合作计划，俄罗斯方面派出海空力量参加此次演习，演习持续到7月23日，备受各方关注。

It not only gathered main warships and support ships from both sides, but also their naval aviation units. Covering such subjects as joint fire strike training and coordinated maritime operation, the exercise focused on maintaining the security of strategic passages on the sea, intensifying joint operational capabilities of the two militaries, enhancing their strategic coordination, ensuring the security of relevant international waters and airspace, and enhancing the ability to jointly maintain regional peace and stability and respond to various security challenges. On the whole, three key points of the exercise sent important signals.

在中俄此次的海上联合行动中，不仅有主力战舰和支援舰参加，两军还投入了各自的海军航空兵力量。演习内容包括联合火力打击训练和海上协同作战。演习聚焦维护海上战略通道安全，强化两军联合行动能力，提升两军战略协作水平，确保相关国际海域的海空域安全，增强共同维护地区和平稳定、应对各种安全挑战的能力。整体来看，有三个关键点释放出重要信号。

First, the exercise is held in the central region of the Sea of Japan and organized by the Chinese side. This was not the first time that China and Russia have conducted military strategic coordination in the Sea of Japan. This international water area involves highly-concentrated strategic passages, with the Soya Strait, the Tsushima Strait and the Tsugaru Strait all being crucial to the two countries' strategic security. China holding the exercise here reflected the participating countries' common concerns on core security and their confidence and determination to keep international strategic passages secure in case of emergencies.

其一，演习地点在日本海中部且由中方主导。“此次演习由中国人民解放军北部战区组织，选址在日本海中部腹地，俄罗斯方面派出海空力量参演。这并非是中俄第一次在日本海进行军事战略协同，日本海是战略通道高度集中的国际水域，宗谷海峡、对马海峡与津轻海峡都事关中俄两国的战略安全。中方将演习场域选在这里，体现了中俄两国共同的核心安全关切以及在突发紧急事态下维护国际战略通道安全的信心与决心。

China has participated in Russia's annual strategic exercises many times, such as the "Vostok-2018", "Center-2019", "Caucasus-2020" and "Vostok-2022". Participating in each other's annual strategic exercises, coordinating with each other's strategic security programs and military visions on specific strategic directions, and jointly maintaining regional peace, security and stability have become a normalized and institutionalized arrangement in China-Russia military strategic coordination.

除此之外，中方曾经多次参加俄方的年度战略演习——“东方-2018”“中部-2019”“高加索-2020”“东方-2022”等。参加对方组织的年度战略演习，配合对方的安全战略筹划与具体战略方向的军事设想，共同维护地区的和平、安全与稳定，已经成为中俄军事战略协作常态化与机制化的安排。

Second, the NATO Summit occurring a week before the exercise labeled China and Russia as threats. At the NATO Vilnius Summit from July 11 to 12, the US and its allies defined Russia as the most significant and direct threat to its members' peace and security, and claimed that China's "stated ambitions and coercive policies challenge our interests, security and values," declaring the China-Russia partnership as "running counter to our values and interests". The latest NATO Summit made no bones about the military bloc's strategic goal of extending its claws to the Asia Pacific. Immediately after the summit, the US, Japan and the ROK held joint military exercises in the Sea of Japan. On July 18, a US nuclear submarine entered Busan Port, the first time in the past 42 years.

其二，演习一周前北约峰会将中俄锁定为威胁。7月11日至12日，在北约维尔纽斯峰会上，美国及其盟友将俄罗斯定义为“北约安全的最大和最直接的威胁”，妄称“中国表现出的野心和胁迫性政策对北约的利益、安全和价值观构成挑战”，并宣称中俄合作“与北约的价值观和利益背道而驰”。这次北约峰会，让“亚太北约化”的战略目标昭然若揭。北约峰会结束后，美国、日本与韩国立即在日本海举行联合军事演习。7月18日，美国一艘弹道导弹核潜艇进入韩国釜山港。这是美国战略核潜艇42年以来首次进入韩国港口。

Since the full-scale outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the US has drawn a line between friends and foes based on other countries' stances on the conflict. In fact, from Washington's strategic perspective, the world is already divided into two poles, one the NATO-centered US-European bloc, and the other the so-called "China-Russia group" defined by the US-led West. Washington is replicating the model of handling the Ukraine crisis in the Asia-Pacific region, especially on the Taiwan question.

自俄乌冲突全面爆发以来，美国以各国对待俄乌冲突的态度厘定敌友，事实上在华盛顿的战略视角下，世界已经“被两极”。一极是美欧系，以北约为核心；另一极是“被站队”的所谓“中俄系”。美国正在把处理乌克兰危机的模式复制到亚太地区，尤其是在台湾问题上。

Third, the exercise will accustom countries with ulterior motives to more such practices. The China-Russia military strategic coordination has been closely watched by the US. Let's take a look at a set of data provided by the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs of the National Defense University of the United States: Since 2014, the Chinese and Russian militaries have held at least 36 different types of exercises, including strategic exercises conducted around the countries such as the "Northern/Interaction-2023", and also joint patrols that emerged a few years ago. The Chinese and Russian navies are moving from homeland waters in Qingdao, Zhanjiang, and Peter the Great Bay to the Sea of Japan, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Baltic Sea. It is conceivable that the joint maritime strategic cruise between China and Russia will sail further to different regions of the world.

其三，让别有用心国家逐渐适应中俄演习。中俄军事战略协作关系愈发受到美国的密切关注，美国国防大学中国军事研究中心给出了这样一组数据：自2014年以来，中俄两军至少举行了36次不同类型的演习。不仅包括“北部·联合-2023”这种在中俄周边进行的战略演习，几年前还出现了联合巡逻的形式。中俄海军足迹正从本土核心水域——青岛、湛江、彼得大帝湾，走向日本海、亚丁湾、阿拉伯海、地中海、波罗的海。可以想见，中俄未来的联合海上战略巡航将进一步扩展到世界的不同地区。

The "Northern/Interaction-2023" demonstrated a high level of political and military mutual trust between China and Russia, whose strategic coordination, especially in the military domain, guarantees global security and stability, and whose bilateral relations have regional and global significance. It must be noted that the core of China-Russia relations is non-alignment, non-confrontation, and non-targeting of third parties. Neither China nor Russia intends to build what the US calls an "anti-West alliance", and we hope the US-led western countries can abandon as early as possible the Cold War mentality that they are still clinging to.

“北部·联合-2023”展现了中俄之间高度的政治军事互信，中俄战略协作尤其是军事战略协作，是全球安全与稳定的保障。中俄关系虽为双边关系，但却有着地区和全球意义。必须要看到，中俄关系的核心要义是不结盟，不对抗，不针对第三方。中俄两国都无意搭建美国所称的“反西方同盟”，我们也希望美西方国家能够尽早走出当前仍在固守的冷战思维。

(The author is the Deputy Dean of Russian Institute, Tsinghua University)

（作者是清华大学俄罗斯研究院副院长）

Editor's note: Originally published on huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.