What Happened: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to China on Oct. 18 to meet the deputy chief of China’s Central Military Council, Zhang Youxia, before the two officials chair the 23rd meeting of the joint inter-governmental commission for military-technical cooperation on Oct. 19, Russian state-run news service TASS reported.
Why It Matters: In the past year, Beijing and Moscow have increased their military cooperation through events such as China's participation in the Vostok 2018 drills, which were the world's largest since 1981. Going forward, their overlapping interests in countering U.S. influence while expanding their own in Central Asia and the Korean Peninsula may cause them to expand this relationship.
Background: Shoigu met his Chinese counterpart on Sept. 12 at the Tsugol training ground, where the pair agreed to hold joint military exercises between their two countries on a regular basis.
Read More:
- How Russia Makes Power Plays in European Politics (Oct. 11, 2018)
- Why Russia and China Are Expanding Their Roles in Afghanistan (Sept. 5, 2018)
- Asia's Dilemma: China's Butter, or America's Guns? (April 4, 2017)
