China is joining a right fine group of countries in Russia for some uneventful troop exercises. Nothing to see here. I'm sure most who hear of this will dismiss it as no big deal. Or they will bet the farm that if it is a big deal, it will become so only after they have passed on from this life to the next.
(Tom New Poster)
ReplyDeleteChinese soldier: "You Russians watch where to point those things!"
Russian soldier: "I'd rather be here that getting my butt kicked in Ukraine!"
Heh. And yet, I feel there is an unspoken alliance emerging in the world from all those countries we thought would get on board with NATO.
Delete(Tom New Poster)
DeleteNeither Russia nor China would long tolerate the idea of a genuine "alliance". Russia's "Third Rome" delusion and China's Han racism make them supremacists. China salivates at the resources (especially the water) of Russia's Far East and Russia can't defend it any more except with nukes. Both have large territories with restless borders and declining military-age populations. Scary, yes, and both may engage in bullying, but no more.
I don't think it's a formal alliance that's in the future, as long as mutual willingness to stand by and watch the West burn. Even if they did more than just casually stand together, it wouldn't be the first time in history that two powers at loggerheads found common cause against a common adversary.
Delete