Taking advantage of the distressed situation of its military friend, Russia in the ongoing Ukraine war, the possibility of China speeding up the modernization of its military and its nuclear arsenal is real.
James Crickton, writing in think-tank Policy Research Group POREG said that China and Russia are close defense partners. It is more of a one-way relationship that is advantageous to Beijing than Moscow.
Russia wants to sell its military training concepts and technology. China wants to accelerate the process of modernising its military.
Western defense organisations are already figuring out the possible scenarios that the conflict situation could lead to.
The Diplomat defines the West's dilemma succinctly: "How bilateral military relations develop in the months and years ahead will have a direct effect on the two countries' ability to modernize their forces, credibly deter adversaries, and protect national interests."
The Americans, however, think that the cooperation may be sandbagged by China's "reverse engineering, competition for arms sales in foreign markets, and China's lessening dependency on Russian imports," reported POREG.
Ironically, it is Russia that is currently facing problems in procuring aircraft spare parts and maintenance programmes for its military fleet because of the western sanctions. Even Chinese companies are said to be refusing to help out Russia.
Though China is reducing its dependence on military imports, in the absence of any possibility of the West helping it with defense procurements, it has to look towards Russia irrespective of how the Ukraine conflict impacts their bilateral relations, reported POREG.
Asked to describe China's strategic goal, diplomats at more than a dozen embassies in Beijing are in near unanimity that China wants a world order built around spheres of influence, with China in control of Asia, Russia wielding a veto over security arrangements in Europe and America pushed back to its own shores.
If such an order is helped into existence by Russia's war in Ukraine, so be it. But China's overwhelming interest is in its own rise, and whether it will be blocked by America, reported POREG.
In China's view, the main global contest is between it and a declining America that is too racist and vicious to allow an Asian giant to become a peer.
If the invasion of Ukraine continues to negatively impact on Russia, one thing is certain. The balance of defense cooperation will shift in China's favour. China will not lose the opportunity of "using" Russia to tune its military exercises to suit China's needs, added POREG.
( With inputs from ANI )
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