China and Russia are getting closer with military and strategic ties. They are working together to rival the United States' GPS and European Galileo satellite navigation systems.
Russia agreed to host ground stations for China's BeiDou system, in return for China hosting ground monitoring stations for Russia's GLONASS positioning system in their territory. The Russian system improves global range and security but can also pose as a security risk.
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The result of this collaboration is yet to be felt as Russia still uses GPS along with GLONASS, while China only uses BeiDou.
Alexander Gabuev, an analyst, a senior fellow and chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, said that this reciprocal agreement shows that there is a growing level of trust and cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.
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He added, "Russia's schism with the West and deepening confrontation and competition between China and the U.S. as two superpowers is definitely contributing to rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing. There is a natural economic complementarity where Russia has (an) abundance of natural resources, and China has capital and technology to develop those resources. And finally, both are authoritarian states, so they don't have this allergy when talking domestic political setup, or the poisoning of (Russian opposition leader) Alexi Navalny, or issues like Hong Kong or human rights in Xinjiang".
Satellites
In the 21st century, Satellites are also seen as a part of a country's military power.
Satellites are also seen as a part of a country's military power.Pixabay
In November, after Russia tested a missile against its own satellite, the U.S. complained saying that the resulting debris threatened astronauts who were on the International Space Station. Regarding this incident, the U.S. Secretary of Defense Llyod Austin said, "What's most troubling about that is the danger that it creates for the international community. It undermines strategic stability."
Currently there are a number of nations, including Russia, China and the Unites States, who are developing hypersonic missiles. These missiles would be travelling through the upper atmosphere at up to five times the speed of sound.
Space Treaty
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the United States "have ignored for many years the initiative of Russia and China to prepare a treaty to prevent an arms race in space. They simply ignore it, insisting instead on developing some sort of universal rules". He emphasized that U.S. could have been together on a joint space treaty with Russia and China.
"We have been working and will continue to work with China, ……. including exploring deep space."Unsplash
Russian President Vladimir Putin in an interview with U.S. broadcaster NBC on 11th June had said that their cooperation with Beijing was "deepening". The President also added, "We have been working and will continue to work with China, which applies to all kinds of programs, including exploring deep space. And I think there is nothing but positive information here. Frankly, I don't see any contradictions here."
Alexander Gabuev, on the other hand, said that above all these agreements, there are still certain limits to the cooperative bond between Russia and China. According to him, "Both Russia and China are religious about their strategic autonomy. There is deep-seated nationalism, there is some level of mistrust and some level of competition in many of those areas where there is seeming complementarity, like space programs. I think that these advances in military technology is happening mostly in parallel, but not jointly."
India
Gabuev also comments that Russia has actually worked more closely with India than China. The two countries even developed the BrahMos cruise missile system together in the 1990s.
India has purchased Russian's S-400 missile defense systemUnsplash
He stated that, "Russia felt secure enough to develop BrahMos missiles together with Indian colleagues. So, this military cooperation between Russia and China is deepening, it's definitely causing a significant challenge to the West, particularly because it helps the PLA (China's People's Liberation Army) to become a really 21st century fighting power and a global military power. But at the same time, we don't see the depth that exists between, for example, the U.S. and America's allies".
In an attempt to counter China's military strength, India has purchased Russian's S-400 missile defense system. This step taken by India might cause some them problem with Delhi's ally, the Unites States.
All of these collaborations and purchases are just an indication of the complexity of strategic decisions in a changing world order. (VOA/SP)
(Keywords : West, United States, Russia, India, China, space, satellite, collaboration, cooperation, treaty, threat, military, strategy, GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Vladimir Putin, President, Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister, BrahMos, complexity, world order.)