Tuesday, December 30, 2008

New military hotline signals further development of close ties between China and Russia

By China Watcher

This is certainly welcome news for the coming New Year in which there is another strong indication of the development of close military ties between China and Russia with the installation of the new military hotline, at the close of the year of 2008.

The hotline is for use by senior military officers of both countries mainly to obtain more accurate information from each other in order to defuse crisis or resolve issues that may cause diplomatic conflicts due to miscalculated perceptions. Additionally, it can also be used to exchange military information to counter ‘potential enemies’ common to each of them.

Over the weekend, the foreign ministries of the two countries also complimented each other on the strengthening of the strategic partnership and growth of business ties as well.

The phone link is a simple tool to overcome huge bureaucracies to reach the relevant person on the other end of the line. Put this simply, the Chinese or the Russian can now pick up the phone when there is a crisis and ask each other what is going on and what they are doing about it.

The Western media hidden disapproval noted that similar military hotline between Beijing and Washington appears to have stalled. This to a certain extent reflects the sincerity of the US government and the level of mistrust the US had on its relationship with China.

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