The Wall Street Journal posted an article yesterday ringing the alarm bells over the threat of a China-Russia military alignment supposedly poses to the United States, under a headline that reads “China and Russia Military Cooperation Raises Prospect of New Challenge to American Power: Joint military exercises and technology sharing are seen as tools in to limit U.S. might abroad.” Western officials and defense experts, all unnamed with one exception, are growing more convinced of the closer relationship based on recent economic alliances, military exercises and joint defense development, as well as the few public statements from government leaders, the Journal reports. “They are distinct threats. But they are now interrelated because of the collaboration,” said Michael Kofman, a frequently quoted Russia expert residing at the Virginia-based CNA think tank. According to the Journal, “The ONI [Office of Director of National Intelligence] reported that Beijing and Moscow are now more closely aligned than at any point in the past 60 years.” (https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-russia-america-military-exercises-weapons-war-xi-putin-biden-11641146041)
The Journal cites a number of reasons why Russia and China are unlikely to develop a NATO-like military alliance—including a caution from an unnamed White House official that one shouldn’t read too much in to it—but then complains that U.S. steps to contain the two countries have driven them into a marriage of convenience, giving the previously contentious rivals an incentive to marshal resources and intelligence against a common adversary, according to analysts and U.S. officials. China and Russia are eager to restrain U.S. influence as well as its military and financial potency, which they believe more likely if they work in tandem, according to analysts.
