Though not a mutual defense alliance, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) remains the most important multilateral security structure in Central Asia that includes both Russia and China.
Participating in SCO exercises provided the Chinese military with some of its first opportunities to rehearse power projection capabilities.
The SCO has ceased holding its large Peace Mission series of exercises; other drills occur but less regularly.
Despite differences regarding the SCO and the organization’s declining relative importance to Russia and China, the two countries have sustained a robust security partnership within the organization and in Central Asia.
Though the SCO is not a traditional mutual defense alliance, many Sino-Russian military exercises with Central Asian partners have occurred under its auspices. These drills helped develop contacts,
improve operational proficiency, enhance interoperability, and demonstrate deterrence capabilities to external observers. The SCO also established the first military confidence-building measures and multilateral counterterrorism networks among the Russian,
Chinese, and Central Asian governments. Yet, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the SCO has ceased holding its biannual Peace Mission series of large multinational military exercises while continuing other drills on an irregular basis.
The Russian government welcomes the SCO as a prominent non-Western multinational structure that can advance its regional diplomatic, economic, and security goals. Participating in the SCO elevates Russia’s diplomatic status,
No comments:
Post a Comment