Russia and China are set to begin an 8 day "war games" session. They have stressed that their "Peace Mission 2005" maneuvers will focus on countering terrorism and piracy.
“The exercises neither aim at any third party nor concern the interests of any third country,” the Chinese Defence Ministry said.
The exercises, beginning tomorrow, are in three stages. During the first stage, Russian and Chinese military chiefs meet in Vladivostok to discuss security in the Far East. During the second stage, beginning Saturday, the defense ministers of the two countries meet in China to approve the training program for the exercise. During the third stage, beginning next Tuesday, the actual training exercises will be carried out in the Yellow Sea.
What are your thoughts on this? How concerned should we be? Or should we? Do you think this is mostly political or practical?