"Vostok-2018" exercise highlights close China-Russia relations in military cooperation

“东方-2018”战略演习:军事合作凸显中俄关系亲密

Source
China Military Online
Editor
Li Jiayao
Time
2018-09-17 17:43:14

Russia ran the "Vostok-2018" strategic military exercise from September 11 to 17 and Chinese military’s participation has helped it catch wide attention. As military cooperation has always been a sensitive aspect in bilateral relations, the deepening China-Russian military cooperation has shown the world closer relations between the two countries.

11日至17日,俄罗斯“东方-2018”战略演习举行。中国军队的参与令此次军演备受瞩目。军事合作历来是两国关系中的敏感部分,中俄军事合作的加深则让世界看到了两国关系的亲密。

"Unprecedented" attention

“史无前例” 备受瞩目

According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the "Vostok-2018" strategic military exercise is "unprecedented" in its scale. It is also the first foreign military exercise that China has sent the largest group of troops to attend.

俄罗斯国防部长绍伊古介绍,此次“东方-2018”战略演习规模堪称“史无前例”。而这也是中国军队历史上派兵出境参演规模最大的一次。

"This is the first large-scale cross-border joint military exercise for Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). It is a test for the PLA's capability to carry out long range delivery, conduct operations in unfamiliar regions and seasons, and ensure the adaptation of weapons and equipment to the new environment. Judging from current observations, the PLA has demonstrated refreshing presence and capabilities." Jiang Yi, a research fellow at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European & Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said in an interview.

“这是解放军第一次大规模成建制的跨境联合军演,对于解放军的远程投送能力、在陌生地域和季节开展行动的能力以及武器装备适应新环境等方面都是考验。目前看来,可以说解放军展现了新风貌新能力。”中国社科院俄罗斯东欧中亚研究所研究员姜毅接受采访时说。

China played a critical role in this military exercise. In the light of the consensus reached by China and Russia, the PLA actively participated in the Russian strategic military exercise in three aspects: strategic background conception and exercise direction, battle command, and exercise with real troops.

分析指出,中方在演习中扮演的角色也至关重要:根据中俄双方达成的共识,解放军将从战略背景想定与导调,战役指挥和实兵演练三个层面深入参与俄军战略演习。

As a report on the website of The Wall Street Journal noted, the "Vostok-2018" strategic military exercise, conducted in Russia’s Far East region close to the Chinese border, intends to show that China and Russia have developed beyond symbolic demonstration of their forces and have reached the stage of weapon system and command structure coordination.

正如美国《华尔街日报》网站报道指出的,这场军演在靠近中国边境的俄罗斯远东地区进行,意在显示中俄两国不再只是进行象征性的武力展示,而是发展到了协调武器系统和指挥结构的程度。

The "Vostok-2018" strategic military exercise, as one of the four strategic exercises of the Russian military, represents an essential part in the country’s military exercise system. "This is the first time that Russia has invited the Chinese military to participate in its annual strategic exercise, usually reserved to the most intimate allies of Russia," an article on the website of The Washington Post noted. This undoubtedly marks the fact that the mutual military trust and military cooperation between China and Russia have both reached a new height.

作为俄军四大战略演习之一的“东方”系列演习,在俄军演习体系中占有重要地位。“这是俄罗斯首次邀请中国军队参与其每年一度的战略演习,此类演习之前只有俄罗斯最亲密的盟友才能参与。”美国《华盛顿邮报》网站文章注意到。这无疑标志着中俄两国的军事互信和军事合作水平都达到了新高度。

Deepened military cooperation

军事合作 日益深化

For more than a decade, China and Russia have deepened military cooperation, as the two sides have increased the frequency, scale, and participating arms and services of military exercises. China-Russia joint military exercises have increased from once in several years and once a year to several times a year, from single service participation to multiple services participation. At present, the joint military exercises between China and Russia have become more regular," said Jiang Yi.

“十几年来,中俄两国的军事合作日益深化。具体体现在军演上,可以看出,频率在增加、规模在扩大、军兵种在增加。中俄联合军演从几年一次到一年一次再到一年几次,从单一兵种到多兵种联合。目前,中俄两国的联合军演已经常态化。”姜毅说。

Indeed,the "Vostok-2018" strategic military exercise is only one aspect of the military cooperation between China and Russia. Just last month, China and Russia participated in the "PeaceMission-2018" joint anti-terrorism military exercise of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization(SCO)member states in Russia’s Chelyabinsk. Moreover, in recent years, China and Russia have maintained the regular "Joint Sea" series of exercises and the Aerospace Security series ofChinese-Russian anti-ballistic missile defense computer-simulated command post exercises.

的确,“东方—2018”军演只是中俄诸多军事合作之一。就在上个月,中俄刚刚共同参与了上海合作组织在俄罗斯车里雅宾斯克“和平使命-2018”举行的联合反恐军演。而且,中俄之间近些年来保持了常态化的中俄“海上联合”系列演习以及“空天安全”系列中俄首长司令部联合反导计算机演习等。

The National Interest magazine in the US recently published an article titled "Russia and China’s Growing Military Interaction; Surprised?", in which it was pointed out thatwhile Chinese-Russian military activities have in the past been mostly symbolic and representational, they appear increasingly interactive. Dating back to 2005, Russia and China have exercised modest forces together in a mostly “counterterrorist” role in Central Asia and in Russia as part of the Chinese-driven Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

美国《国家利益》杂志近日发表文章《俄中军事互动加强,意外吗?》指出,过去,俄中军事活动大多是象征性和代表性的,这几年互动似乎越来越频密。2005年时俄中曾投入为数不多的军队举行联合演习,但大多是在中亚和俄罗斯的“反恐”演习,它们属于上合组织的一部分。

Today, the "Vostok-2018" strategic military exercise sees the participation of the largest scale of Chinese military in history. Moreover, the subject of the exercise has expanded from the previous joint anti-terrorism to the traditional security subject of organizing joint defense and counterattack. Compared with the previous "Peace Mission" exercises, the "Vostok-2018" strategic military exercise features a higher level, a larger scale, more completed elements, andcloser cooperation.

如今,“东方—2018”军演是中国军队历史上派兵出境参演规模最大的一次,而且,演练课题由以往的联合反恐拓展为组织联合防御和反攻的传统安全课题。与历次“和平使命”演习相比,这次战略演习层级更高、规模更大、要素更全、联合性更强。

The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post reported that both China and Russia are now advancing military reform and military modernization in full swing. The deepened mutual military trust between China and Russia provides China with valuable resources in that China will have access to Russia’s military technology and directly learn from its experience in Syria and Ukraine.

美国《华尔街日报》和《华盛顿邮报》网站报道都指出,目前中俄都在紧锣密鼓地推进军队改革和实现军事现代化。中俄之间军事互信的深化为中国提供宝贵的资源:中国可以接触到俄罗斯的军事科技,还可以直接学习俄罗斯在叙利亚和乌克兰的实战经验。

Stern, a weekly news magazine published in Germany, believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin hopes to show Russia’s military strength through exercises with Chinese People's Liberation Army.

德国《明星》周刊则认为,俄罗斯总统普京希望借助与中国人民解放军的演习,显示军事实力。

Gao Fei, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU), also pointed out that Russia enjoys comparative advantage in military. Russia wants to show its presence, sothe"Vostok-2018" exercise[04] is designed to be large-scale with strong visual and conscious impact with the purpose to demonstrate the country’s will to resist and its strong determination.

外交学院教授高飞也指出,军事领域是俄罗斯的比较优势。俄罗斯要展示自己的存在,军演规模一定要大,要有视觉和意识上的冲击力,要通过军演表现自己抗压的意志和坚强的决心。

Deeper relations and warmer friendship

关系深化 友谊升温

"Military exchanges are most sensitive in bilateral relations. Without close bilateral relations, there is no possibility of deepening military cooperation," said Jiang Yi.

“军事交流是两国交流中最敏感的部分,没有两国关系的亲密自然不可能有军事合作的深化。”姜毅说。

At present, the continuous development of China-Russia military relations is a natural result of the deeper political and economic relations between the two countries. As RIA Novosti pointed out, the strategic partnership between China and Russia is increasingly being put into practice.

当前,中俄军事关系不断发展,这是两国政治和经济关系深化的自然结果。正如俄新社指出的,中俄两国战略伙伴关系越来越落实到实际行动中。

The "Vostok-2018" strategic military exercise has showed the world warmer friendship between China and Russia. The US Newsweek quoted analysts saying that this military exercise shows the increasingly close relationship between Russia and China rather than Russia's own military strength.

“东方—2018”军演中的军事合作让世界看到了中俄两国的友谊在升温。美国《新闻周刊》网站引用分析人士的话称,这场军演与其说彰显了俄罗斯的军事实力,不如说彰显了俄罗斯与中国日益紧密的关系。

Brian Taylor, a US-Russian political relations expert at Syracuse University, said that "Russia holds large-scale military exercises at this time every year. What is more worthy of attention is that China participates in these exercises for the first time this year, which is symbolic and reflects deepening relations between China and Russia."

美国锡拉丘兹大学美俄政治关系专家布赖恩•泰勒说:“俄罗斯每年这个时候都会举行大规模军演。更值得关注的是,中国首次参加这些演习。此举具有象征意义,反映出两国关系在加深。”

Gao Fei said, "China and Russia are comprehensive strategic cooperative partners and the two share consensus and cooperation on many issues. Moreover, China and Russia send a signal of solidarity to the outside world through cooperation, which in itself increases certainty in a changing world."

高飞说:“中俄是全面战略协作伙伴,在很多问题上有共识有合作。而且,中俄两国要通过合作给外部世界传递团结一致的信号,这本身就增加了变化的世界秩序中的确定性。”

However, as the Senior Colonel Wu Qian, Spokesman for China’s Ministry of National Defense, said, "Vostok-2018" strategic military exercise aims to consolidate the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership, deepen the pragmatic and friendly cooperation between the two militaries, further enhance the ability of the two militaries to jointly respond to various security threats, and maintain regional peace and security. The exercise is not directed at any third party and has nothing to do with the regional situation.

不过,正如国防部新闻发言人吴谦所说,此次演习旨在巩固发展中俄全面战略协作伙伴关系,深化两军务实友好合作,进一步增强两军共同应对各种安全威胁的能力,有利于维护地区和平与安全。演习不针对第三方,和地区局势无关。

"The core objectives of China-Russia cooperation are to propel the development of multi-polarization of the world, promote the democratization of international relations, and improve international order. It should be said that China-Russia cooperation has largely embodied the international community’s efforts to construct a new international order and form a new set of rules for international exchanges," said Jiang Yi.

“中俄合作的核心目标是推动世界多极化发展、推动国际关系民主化和国际秩序的改进。应该说,中俄合作在很大程度上体现了国际社会建设新的国际秩序和新的国际交往规则的一种努力。”姜毅说。

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