Vostok-2018: Another Sign of Strengthening Russia-China Ties

Military Aspects

In a change from previous practice in the Vostok series, the Russian military divided its forces into two groups, which simulated fighting each other rather than an imagi­nary opponent. The blue “west state,” play­ing the role of NATO, featured the Central Military District and the Northern Fleet. The red “east state” comprised the Eastern Military District and the Pacific Fleet. The red team repulsed the blue team’s incursion, then counterattacked and pushed the opposing force deep into blue territory. In the naval component of the exercises, the Pacific Fleet defended itself against am­phibious assaults by the Northern Fleet. In the exercises’ strategic nuclear component, Tu-95MS bombers flew into a US air defense identification zone near Alaska, prompting US F-22 fighters to scramble and escort them as they retreated.

Meanwhile, Chinese forces joined their Russian counterparts for drilling in the Tsu­gol combined arms training area, located near the border with Mongolia, where they practiced air-to-ground coordination, air­borne assault, and coordinated air-artillery strikes. The Russian and Chinese forces conducted joint firing operations and tested their forces’ interoperability.

The Russian military’s main purpose in these exercises was to improve its com­mand-and-control capabilities. The exer­cises posed formidable challenges in this area. For example, the military command had to oversee the movement of forces across long distances to the Eastern Military District as well as joint operations by multi­ple services. Because the Vostok-2018 exer­cises were held east of the Ural Mountains, the OSCE’s Vienna Document did not apply. This meant that Russia was under no obli­gation to invite OSCE observers or to report to NATO on the content of the exercises. Despite being conducted in the Russian Far East, Vostok-2018’s scenario clearly simu­lated military conflict with NATO.

This represents a significant change. As recently as 2010, the Vostok exercises ap­peared to simulate the defense of Russia’s eastern regions against a potential invasion by China. On the final day of that year’s exercises, Russian forces simulated a tacti­cal nuclear strike against an invading force. In 2013, after the conclusion of Russia-China joint naval exercises in the Sea of Japan, five Chinese warships left the exer­cises and sailed into the Sea of Okhotsk. Russia responded by calling snap exercises in the Russian Far East. Although these exercises were not part of the Vostok series, they were the largest land and sea exercises in the region, up to that point, since the end of the Cold War. During 2014, as the West imposed sanctions on Russia follow­ing the annexation of Crimea, Russia in­tensified its diplomatic outreach to China. Nevertheless, the Vostok-2014 exercises held that summer were oriented toward the defense of the Russian Far East against an invasion by a state actor – a role that could only be played in the real world by China.

The situation was strikingly different this year. Although the exercises may have served to remind China about Russia’s mili­tary capabilities, Russia went out of its way to signal that this was not their purpose. Instead, Russia sought to reassure China. At a time of close diplomatic relations, invit­ing China to participate in such large-scale exercises so close to its border seemed an appropriate courtesy. Russia thereby con­veyed a clear message that it does not view China as a military threat to its eastern regions. Beyond reassurance, Russia also enlisted China’s participation in order to underscore the message that it was sending to the West by holding large-scale drills simulating conflict with NATO.

China also sought to achieve several military objectives by participating in the exercises. Vostok-2018 was an opportunity for the PLA to participate in drills focusing heavily on the command and control over combined arms operations – a crucial com­ponent of any potential military conflict with the United States and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region. The exercises were also an opportunity for the PLA, which has not fought an armed conflict since 1979, to study Russia’s military, particularly lessons from its recent combat experience in Syria. Strategy and tactics that the Russian mili­tary has employed in that conflict featured prominently in Vostok-2018.

Political Implications

Through the Vostok-2018 exercises, Russia and China sent a clear signal to the United States and its NATO partners. Their message was that, if the West continues to apply what they consider to be undue pressure, then they will increase their own level of bilateral cooperation – including defense coordination – in response. Although the two countries continue to stress that they have no intention to form a military alliance, some Russian analysts suggest that Vostok-2018 may have been partly an attempt to work out the technical details of an alliance in advance while leaving open the possibility of such an arrangement in the future. Even if it falls short of a formal military alliance, increased military co­operation by Russia and China could have significant implications for global politics.

Vostok-2018 is another in a series of mile­stones reflecting a strengthened Russia-China relationship, especially since the onset of the Ukraine crisis. After this crisis erupted, Russia and China increased their diplomatic coordination on a range of issues, including North Korea and cyberspace, and struck important deals in the arms and energy spheres. The downturn in US-China relations since the beginning of Donald Trump’s presidency has given China addi­tional reasons to strengthen its cooperation with Russia.

The level of defense cooperation between Russia and China is rising steadily. In 2016, the two countries held joint naval exercises in the South China Sea just weeks after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled against China’s expansive claims in that contested body of water. The two countries have also held joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean (2015) and Baltic (2017) seas. In recent years, Russia for the first time agreed to sell its most ad­vanced weapons systems to China, most notably the S-400 air defense system and Su‑35 fighter jets. The United States recently imposed sanctions on a Chinese defense company for purchases of Russian weapons, adding to the growing tensions in both countries’ relations with the United States.

Russia and China may have intended to use the Vostok-2018 exercises to influence the course of events on the Korean Pen­insula. Although their interests on the peninsula are not identical – with China primarily focused on the maintenance of North Korea as a buffer, and Russia more interested in the strategic and economic benefits to be gained from reunification or closer integration between North and South – China and Russia have nevertheless closely coordinated their diplomacy on this issue in recent years. Both countries have sought to limit pressure on the North Korean regime and secure a reduced US military footprint in Northeast Asia in return for steps toward denuclearization by the regime in Pyongyang.

Although no publicly available evidence suggests that the Russian and Chinese mili­taries have developed joint operational plans, some analysts suggest that the Korean Peninsula and Central Asia are the two regions most likely to be included in any such plans. The Vostok-2018 exercises may have been intended as a display of Russian and Chinese military power in Northeast Asia in anticipation of the pos­sible outbreak of armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula. In advance of an ex­pected second meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Russia and China are continuing their close diplo­matic coordination with North Korea.

Growing Russia-China Ties and Implications for the West

Russia and China are not about to construct a formal military alliance, which would entail a mutual security guarantee. Neither country wishes to be drawn into a military conflict with the United States over the other country’s regional ambitions. China declined to support either Russia’s recog­nition of two breakaway regions in Georgia following the war in 2008 or its annexation of Crimea in 2014. Likewise, despite offer­ing some diplomatic support, Russia main­tains official neutrality on China’s maritime disputes in the South and East China seas.

Growing defense coordination between Russia and China could, nevertheless, have significant implications for NATO. Even in the absence of a formal alliance treaty, the relationship could offer the two countries some of the benefits of an alliance. Al­though neither Russia nor China is likely to intervene directly in a military conflict involving the other’s regional disputes, the ongoing existence of tensions along both countries’ peripheries stretches US resources and strategic attention. This situation potentially gives both countries some additional room for maneuver. In a crisis, events in one region could offer opportunities for the other country to seize in its own neighborhood. In addition, Rus­sian arms sales strengthen China’s military capabilities, forcing the United States to expend additional resources to maintain its military advantage in the Asia-Pacific region.

These developments will have important implications for European security. Most significantly, they are likely to exert addi­tional pressure on Germany and other Euro­pean NATO members to increase defense spending. The Trump administration has placed this issue front and center in trans­atlantic relations, but calls for greater bur­den-sharing by European allies are likely to come from across the US political spectrum as strategic competition with China inten­sifies. As Western leaders debate security policies during the coming years, they will need to pay increasing attention not only to Russia and China separately, but to the effects of their increasingly strong bilateral relationship and defense cooperation.