Russia Ready To ‘Combine Potential’ With China If Faced With Western Aggression

China has shrugged off accusations issued by the United States this week that it is directly supporting Russia’s ‘war machine’. US deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell told reporters Wednesday that China is providing more than just dual use items, but instead is transferring “component pieces of a very substantial effort on the part of China to help sustain, build and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine.” This allegedly included submarine and missile technology.

On Thursday, Chinese state media confirmed the start of joint China-Russia naval patrols in the Pacific. Global Times says that Chinese warships and warplanes have arrived in the Peter the Great Bay and Vladivostok just ahead of the exercises, which will run through September.

But it was Russia which verbally hit back directly against Washington accusations in a new, ominous warning. Russia and China could “combine their potential” if faced with aggression, Moscow’s foreign ministry asserted.

Image source: Xinhua

“I would like to remind you that Moscow and Beijing will respond to ‘double containment’ by the United States with ‘double counteraction’,” ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

While the two powerful countries as yet have no formal military treaty, President Putin recently declared Russia and China to be “allies in every sense of the word” while Xi has touted the “no limits friendship”. 

Zakharova in the latest explosive remarks (issued in a Wednesday briefing) spoke about combining forces. Here are the words in their full context:

“It is clear that both Russia and China will react to the emergence of additional and very significant missile threats, and their reaction will be far from being political, which has also been repeatedly confirmed by the two countries.

“Our relations are not directed against third countries… and double counteraction does not contradict this. This is a defensive position, this is not an initiative to target other countries.

“But if an aggressive policy of attack is being implemented against us from one centre, why don’t we combine our potential and give an appropriate rebuff?” 

It seems that among the original questions from reporters which triggered this response was an inquiry related to the possibility that the US will deploy US Typhon mid-range missiles to Japan.

While reports have said these will be present on a temporary basis as part of drills, it remains the missiles were banned under the now defunct INF Treaty. China has of course vehemently condemned this, and independent analysts have pointed out it would be akin to China placing banned missiles capable of hitting Florida and the US Gulf coast in Cuba or Mexico.

In many ways, these recent displays of close coordination between Beijing and Moscow are but more blowback from round after round of US sanctions and punitive actions aimed at both countries.