Early this month, Reuters reported that “Russia approved secret China military training at top level,” causing European officials to “grow more anxious about China-Russia defence ties” (July 1, 2026).
A classified Russian document seen by Reuters directly referred to an internal decree issued by Defence Minister Andrei Belousov in August 2025. It said that, in accordance with a decision by Belousov, a delegation from Russia’s armed forces travelled to China to participate in training exercises at People’s Liberation Army facilities.
The same report detailed one of the training courses—a three-week session focused on radiological, chemical and biological protection at a military facility in Beijing in November….
China’s foreign ministry said in a statement that its stance on the Ukraine crisis had remained consistent. “The relevant allegations are entirely unfounded,” it added, referring to details contained in this report.
Beijing says it is neutral in Russia’s war with Ukraine, and presents itself as a peace mediator….
Internal Russian military reports seen by Reuters noted strengths and weaknesses in the training. One report on the training in Nanjing praised the standard of the equipment, the use of simulators and the instructors’ high theoretical knowledge while specifically noting China’s lack of combat experience.
Reuters later reported Germany’s distress over the training and what it showed about China’s “decisive and growing support for Russia’s brutal war of aggression,” support that, says the German foreign ministry, “directly impacts our security.”
In a July 9 interview with RadioFreeEurope/Radio Liberty, Christopher Walker, vice president of the Center for European Policy, says that the training represents nothing new. China “has afforded the Russian war effort in Ukraine systematic backing, and so it probably shouldn’t come as such a huge surprise that the Chinese authorities apparently have elected to provide support of this kind to the Russian war effort. As other observers have noted, China’s support really has been pivotal to Russia’s war effort.”
The military training is “part of a package of support that China has been providing to Russia effectively since the full-scale attack on Ukraine began [in February 2022]. Moreover, the relationship that has evolved between Russia and China dates back even further, one could argue, to Xi Jinping’s arrival as general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and other top leadership positions in 2012 and Vladimir Putin’s return to the Russian presidency around the same time.”
Plus Iran
With regard to frequent cooperation between Russia, China, and Iran, “it may not be the case that they’re synchronized in an extensive way. I think what they’ve arrived at is a working relationship where they provide support on an as-needed basis among these different powers….
“These are countries whose leadership clearly fears their own publics. In that sense, they are fragile.
“But at the same time, it would be irresponsible for the US and other free societies to take lightly the arrangement that has developed among these countries. In a sense, they are providing each other with surge capacity [the ability to quickly provide support when needed] and the kinds of benefits that come through collaboration—benefits that democratic countries themselves should seek to achieve.”
Also see:
RFE/RL: “Christopher Walker: The West Must Stop Treating Russia, China, And Iran As Isolated Challenges”
CEPA: “The China-Russia Meta-Threat: The Architecture of Authoritarian Power”
