China is holding military training in Belarus near a U.S. Army base.
According to Chinese state media, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Belarusian armed forces will conduct the training jointly.
“The training aims to enhance the training levels and coordination capabilities of the participating troops, as well as deepen practical cooperation between the armies of the two countries, according to the ministry,” the state media said.
Chief of the Belarusian military’s special operations command Vadzin Dzenisenka said the “situation in the world is difficult, and so we are practicing new forms and methods of solving tactical tasks.”
The location of the military drills is less than 300 miles away from a U.S. Army site in Poland, the Daily Caller reported.
An anonymous NATO official told Politico EU that the international organization “routinely tracks all military manoeuvres near its borders. The China/Belarus exercise near Poland illustrates the growing relationship between authoritarian powers.”
During its Washington Summit, NATO condemned the “deepening strategic partnership” between China and Russia, a close ally of Belarus.
“The People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) stated ambitions and coercive policies continue to challenge our interests, security and values,” NATO’s Washington Declaration reads. “The deepening strategic partnership between Russia and the PRC and their mutually reinforcing attempts to undercut and reshape the rules-based international order, are a cause for profound concern.”
