China launches joint military exercises with Russia – sends long-range strategic nuclear-capable bombers near Taiwan

September 2016 – BEIJING – A flurry of fresh military exercises is highlighting rising tensions in the Asia Pacific, with China and Russia today joining forces to practice seizing islands and hunting submarines. But Beijing also took the opportunity to send a message to the United States: It’s mid-Pacific island fortress of Guam is now also within the reach of Chinese forces. A ‘rapid deployment’ exercise yesterday saw bombers, fighters and supporting aircraft surge past the Philippines and Taiwan and deep into the west Pacific. China’s military has stated such ‘blue water’ exercises will ‘be normalized’ as part of future weapons testing and training programs.
But the United States appears to be responding in kind: News reports out of India state Washington and New Delhi will soon be engaging in joint army exercises barely 100km from India’s border with China. Beijing has laid claim to the bulk of the South China Sea, despite competing claims from adjoining nations including Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. It has also been aggressively promoting a ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative which essentially sees the restoration of ancient ‘Silk Road’ trade routes with the Middle East via Pakistan and the Indian Ocean.

This post was published at UtopiatheCollapse on September 13, 2016.