SHOW OF DETERMINATION: Russian officers watch the Peace Mission 2009 joint antiterrorism exercise on July 23 (ZHA CHUNMING)

The Peace Mission 2009, a joint military exercise that was held on July 22-26 by China and Russia, was meant to convey one message: that both countries are firmly resolved to rooting out the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism.

About 1,300 service people from the army and air forces of each country participated in the five-day drill at the Taonan tactical training base in northeast China bordering Russia's Far East.

Chen Bingde, Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), and Nikolai Makarov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, jointly announced the beginning of the exercise, after holding strategic talks in Russia's Far Eastern city of Khabarovsk.

The exercise did not target any third party, the Chinese Defense Ministry said. It was designed to showcase the two countries' capacity and determination to jointly cope with various kinds of security threats.

The exercise contributed to the international community's antiterrorism efforts and was increasingly necessary in the face of the mounting terrorist threat in Central Asia, Chinese and Russian experts said.

Responding to threats

"Terrorism is making a comeback from North Caucasus and Central Asia to China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region," said Feng Yujun, Director of the Institute of Russian Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR). "Al Qaeda members are migrating to Central Asia as the United States intensifies its military operations along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border."

Armed attackers assaulted the police in Andijan, Uzbekistan, at the end of May, while a string of terrorist attacks has ripped through Pakistan. The terrorist organization Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan has become more active in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

In this context, especially given the fact that the international financial crisis has dealt severe blows to the Central Asian countries' economies, it is imperative that members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) step up cooperation in antiterrorism, Feng said.

The SCO, founded in Shanghai in 2001, groups China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan into a mutual security organization. Senior military delegations from the other four SCO member states as well as the secretary general of the SCO Secretariat and head of its Regional Counterterrorism Structure observed the Peace Mission 2009 exercise.

The situation in Afghanistan shows that NATO cannot effectively combat terrorist forces in the country without the support of Russia and China, said Viktor Litovkin, Deputy Managing Editor of the Russian publication Independent Military Review. Joint exercises held by Russia and China are an important part of the international antiterrorism efforts and exemplify the countries' sense of responsibility to help deal with antiterrorism, he said at a televised seminar at the Beijing Press Center of the RIA Novosti News Agency on July 21.

China, Russia and other SCO members previously conducted two antiterrorism exercises under the name Peace Mission in 2005 and 2007. Peace Mission 2007, staged in Russia in August 2007, was the first joint military exercise that involved armed forces from all six SCO members. The People's Armed Police Force of China and the Internal Troops of Russia also held their first joint counterterrorism exercise in Russia in 2007.

Holding joint exercises has become a tradition in China-Russia military cooperation, Litovkin said. He pointed out that the purpose of their joint exercises is transparent—while conducting drills on fighting international terrorism, they aim to enhance the mutual understanding between their armed forces through joint exercises.

Participants in this year's joint exercise come from troops deployed along the border, Litovkin noted. Chinese and Russian soldiers live in the same training camp during the joint exercise, with their weapons and equipment stored nearby. This enables them to become acquainted with each other and become familiar with each other's weapons, he said.

Peace Mission 2009 was more focused on fighting terrorism than the previous two joint exercises, said Vladimir V. Evseev, Senior Associate at the Institute for World Economy and International Relations, Russian Academy of Sciences.

Russia sent strategic warplanes to the first joint military exercise in 2005, sparking concerns in Western countries, he said. Officials made adjustments this year so the joint military exercise could only be understood as an antiterrorism drill, he said.

Working together

China has adopted a new security concept that underlines cooperation without causing confrontation or targeting other countries, said Sun Bo, an associate professor at the Institute of Security and Strategic Studies at the CICIR.

"Since China and Russia carry out military cooperation within the legal framework of the SCO, Western countries' concerns are totally unnecessary," he said. "Antiterrorism is a cornerstone of the SCO. SCO members have a consensus on addressing terrorism, separatism and extremism."

The most important measure the Chinese Government has taken against separatism, extremism and terrorism is eradicating the soil that breeds them by making the country's economic and social development more balanced, Feng said. It seeks to promote tolerance and understanding among different ethnic groups and religions and expand exchanges and cooperation of diverse cultures in China. Improving the capacity of its armed forces and police to fight terrorism and extremism is another important goal of the Chinese Government. Moreover, it is eager to carry out antiterrorism cooperation with other countries and international organizations.

China and Russia have made "monumental progress" in their military cooperation since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, Feng said. That progress has led to a strengthening of military trust along their border, as well as great strides in military technology exchanges, with Russia becoming an important technology provider for the modernization of the Chinese military's equipment. Their military forces additionally share a great deal of consensus on the international strategic situation, since both are committed to world multipolarization and safeguarding international strategic stability. They have worked together closely in personnel training and in recent years many Chinese officers have received military education in Russia. The two countries' joint antiterrorism exercises also provide evidence that their military cooperation has reached a high level.

Sun cautioned that external factors pose a grave challenge to international security. U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly recently admitted the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy (NED) gives funds to the World Uygur Congress, the organization behind the July 5 riot in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The NED also receives its funds from the U.S. Congress, according to a Xinhua News Agency report.