China, Belarus Gather Armies Near NATO Border (Worthy News Watch)

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

MINSK/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – China and Belarus continued joint military exercises Thursday near the border of Poland, a member of NATO, while the military alliance gathered for its 75th anniversary summit.

The drills, codenamed “Eagle Assault” but dubbed “Assault USA” by critics, concluded on July 19, military officials said.

“Events taking place in the world are alarming, the situation is uneasy, therefore we are going to practice new forms and methods of performing tactical tasks,” said Major General Vadim Denisenko, chief of Belarusian special operations command.

NATO is closely monitoring the drills as Belarus and China are both allies of Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022. As the war escalated, Belarus began hosting Russian tactical nuclear weapons, Moscow and Minsk confirmed.

Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled the country of 9.5 million with an iron fist for three decades, has relied on close ties with his primary sponsor and ally, Russia, and increased relations with China.

The military exercises mark the first known time that Chinese troops are conducting maneuvers near NATO borders.

Brest is located less than 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the border with Poland, a member state of both the European Union and NATO and a significant ally of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion began over two years ago.

NEAR UKRAINE

The Belarussian city is also only about 50 kilometers (31 miles) from war-torn Ukraine.

Chinese troops arrived in Belarus on a Y-20 strategic transport aircraft, footage showed.

Belarus’ recent admission to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) signifies deepening military cooperation with China as Beijing seeks to increase its influence in Eastern Europe, according to a Worthy News assessment and observers.

The Chinese Defense Ministry said the drills mainly aim at “anti-terrorism operations” and include missions like hostage rescue.

Yet experts view the drills as “a strategic move” by China to demonstrate its military presence and strengthen ties with Russia while challenging NATO footprint in the region.

Martin Sebena, a lecturer at the University of Hong Kong specializing in China-Europe relations, said the timing and location of the drills mean they are likely to be seen as further signaling of Chinese support for Russia and its allies in Europe.

He told the South China Morning Post: “The exercise will overlap with the Nato summit and takes place on the … border where Belarus for many months has ‘weaponized’ migrant flows to pressure Poland – and by extension, the EU and NATO.”

FIERCE CRITICISM

Poland and Ukraine have criticized the maneuvers, with Kyiv calling it “an extension of Belarusian and Russian psychological operations” against Ukrainefacing Moscow’s ongoing invasion.

Previously, the armies of Belarus and China trained on Chinese soil. Both countries also participated in Russia’s Vostok multilateral exercise in August 2022.

With tensions rising, the United States will start deploying longer-range missiles in Germany in 2026, the two countries announced at the NATO summit in Washington, D.C.

The decision will see Germany hosting the most potent U.S. weapons on the European continent since the Cold War, in a clear warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A U.S.-German statement said the “episodic deployments” were in preparation for longer-term stationing in Europe of capabilities that would include SM-6, Tomahawk, and developmental hypersonic weapons with greater range.

The move would have been banned under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed by the U.S. and the Soviet Union in 1987. But that accord collapsed in 2019.

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