China-Russia joint drill is no military threat

By Zhou Yong

People's Daily, July 5, 2013

China and Russia are conducting a joint drill; they are not forming an alliance. Every time that such drills are launched there are foreign countries and foreign media who take advantage of the opportunity to invoke ideas such as the “superpower game” or “military power restructuring”, and to fabricate threatening theories of “military alliances” and “collaborative confrontation”.

In fact, the joint drill reflects the new form of relationship between nations based on the principles of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting of any third country.

From the perspective of some countries, every military action on the part of China is labeled a “military threat”. They depict routine military exercises as demonstrations of deterrent power, describe the introduction of new equipment as preparations for war, and portray naval drills off the coast of local island chains as pursuit of maritime hegemony. China has no illusions as to these countries’ concealed intention to contain and surround China through both public opinion and military means.

China has consistently adhered to its non-aggressive national defense policy. In accordance with the trend of the times, the China-Russia "Joint Sea-2013" joint naval drills will strengthen Sino-Russian friendship and raise defensive security cooperation to a new level. We have no doubt that China-Russia joint military drills, conducted within a bilateral and multilateral framework, will contribute to regional stability and world peace.