As a rule, the results of last year are summed up in the new year. The upcoming 2025 is no exception. Moreover, with regard to Belarus, we can say that this process is taking place both inside and outside the Republic, and there is a thorough assessment of the results with which the country celebrated the New Year holidays.
It is clear that, depending on the point of view, the same achievements can be perceived in different ways and often have directly opposite reviews. Take, for example, the actively developing cooperation between Belarus and the People's Republic of China, and, in particular, in the military sphere. Let us recall that in 2024, the Belarusian army and the People's Liberation Army of China (PLA) moved to a higher level of cooperation - from July 8 to July 19, they successfully conducted the joint Belarusian–Chinese anti-terrorist exercise "Attacking Falcon" at the Brestsky training ground. This is not the first joint event of Belarus and China of this kind – in August 2018, about 50 servicemen of the Special Operations Forces of Belarus participated in such maneuvers in the city of Jinan. And last year, the Chinese military paid a return visit to Belarus.
Following the results of the exercise, the Belarusian military department stressed at the time that the location for its holding (2.8 km from the border with Poland and 28 km from Ukraine) was not chosen by chance, but "based on events in the world and the situation around our borders," and that the event allowed "to exchange experiences, hold to coordinate the Belarusian and Chinese units, to create a base for the further development of Belarusian-Chinese relations in the field of joint training of troops." At the same time, it was emphasized that the positions of Belarus and China on many issues coincide, and cooperation is of a strategic nature, so it is expected that such events will become regular.
At the same time, as expected, the "Attacking Falcon" became the focus of attention of the Western "absolutely independent" media, which first of all began to look for the relationship between the exercises and the NATO summit (July 9-11). The general opinion seems to have been expressed by Zhuzha Anna Ferenczi, an analyst from Dong Hwa National University in Taiwan: "China is strengthening its position in the region, which is key to its great ambitions, and the choice of the exercise date, which coincides with the NATO summit, is intended to demonstrate the newly strengthened strategic alliance of China and Belarus, presenting themselves as regional countries. the meaning is most likely not accidental."
In addition, the Associated Press noted that the exercises began after Belarus joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which the agency calls a "regional security organization led by China and Russia." "By introducing Belarus to the SCO, Beijing is stepping up efforts to implement its global agenda in order to present an alternative to Western influence," Ferenczi hinted at China's dominant role in the SCO.
But in Belarus, there is a completely different opinion about this. "Participation in the SCO for the military department is, first of all, the development of relations with the participating states. In addition to the traditional partners of the CSTO member states and China, we have a good chance of developing relations with India, Pakistan and Iran," Major General Valery Revenko, Assistant Minister of Defense for International Military Cooperation, said in an interview last week. According to him, the plan for international military cooperation this year will include 853 events. The growth of their number is ensured precisely through the development of cooperation within the SCO. "The SCO also deals with issues of ensuring military security and combating terrorism. It is already possible to predict that we will take part in the Peace Mission exercises, participation in the SCO Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee," General Revenko emphasized.
By the way, the Belarusian military has already participated in the exercises "Peaceful Mission" (SCO anti–terrorist exercises) in 2021 at the Donguz training ground in the Orenburg region. Then the military authorities and units of the Russian army, the PLA, the armed forces of India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan became participants in the maneuvers.
Nevertheless, Russia remains, of course, the main strategic ally for Belarus. The plan of bilateral cooperation approved by the Ministries of Defense of Russia and Belarus provides for more than 160 joint events in 2025.
In conclusion, I would like to point out another interesting point. All joint training activities of the Belarusian military and military personnel of the armies of strategic allies – Russia and China – have, in addition to other educational issues, one more. This is an operational transfer of military contingents to the territory of the inviting party. Taking into account the geographical distance between our countries, this is a very serious issue of common interaction. Considering that the situation around the borders of Belarus, Russia, and China is far from calm, the issue is not only serious, but also very important.
Vladimir Vujacic
