Seeking to forge closer military and strategic ties with each other, China and Russia began collaborating on technology that would rival the US GPS and Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system.
Earlier this year, China gave the green light to install surveillance stations of Russia’s GLONASS positioning system on its territory. Although the GLONASS system increases sensitivity in global positioning, it can pose a security risk. Russia has agreed to host the earth stations of China’s satellite navigation system BeiDou.
Alexander Gabuev, head of the Russia in Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, noted that the mutual agreement is indicative of the growing level of cooperation and trust between Moscow and Beijing.
Speaking to Voice of America (VOA), Gabuev said, “Russia’s hostile approach to the West and the deepening rivalry between the two superpowers, China and the United States, contributed to the rapprochement between Moscow and Beijing. Russia has abundant natural resources. “China has the capital and technology to process these resources. Both are authoritarian states. Therefore, they are not sensitive to issues such as domestic politics, the poisoning of opposition Russian leader Alexey Navalny, the Hong Kong issue or the human rights record in Xinjiang.” .
In order for the impact of satellite navigation systems to be felt, the cooperation between Russia and China will take time.
“We haven’t seen significant results yet, because Russia still uses GLONASS, but also uses GPS. There are no major projects connected to BeiDou,” Gabuev said.
Satellites are critical to military power
Satellites are considered one of the critical components of military power in the 21st century. Russia shot down one of its satellites in a missile test it carried out last month. The United States noted that the debris from this collision endangered the lives of astronauts on the International Space Station.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, on November 17, spoke about Russia’s missile test and said, “The most disturbing aspect of this situation is the danger it poses to the international community. It disrupts strategic stability.”
Russia, China and the United States are among the countries developing hypersonic missiles capable of traveling five times faster than sound in the upper atmosphere.
space deal
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the United States did not participate in the Russian-Chinese joint space agreement.
“For many years, the United States ignored the attempts of Russia and China to make a deal to prevent an arms race in space. They did not care, instead they insisted on developing some general rules,” Lavrov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an interview with NBC television on June 11, said that cooperation with Beijing has deepened.
Putin said, “We are working with China, and we will continue to do so. This cooperation is valid for all kinds of programs, including exploration of the depths of space.”
On the other hand, Gabuev underlines that there are some limits to the cooperation between Russia and China.
“Both Russia and China are very dependent on their strategic independence. There is a deep-rooted nationalism. There seems to be some competition and mistrust in some complementary areas, such as space programs. I think that the developments in military technology are parallel to each other, not common,” said the expert.
India
Gabuev noted that Russia cooperates more with India than China, including the development of the BrahMos cruise missile system since the 1990s.
Gabuev said, “Russia felt it was safe to jointly develop BrahMos missiles with its Indian counterparts. The deepening military cooperation between Russia and China poses a challenge to the West because it makes the Chinese military a true fighting power and global military power of the 21st century. But at the same time, this relationship “We see, for example, that the US’s ties with its allies are not as deep as they are.”
In addition, India’s purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system to counter China’s military power poses the risk of angering India’s ally, the United States, and reveals how complex strategic relations are in the changing world order.