Tokyo, 25 November, /AJMEDIA/
A think tank linked to Japan’s Defense Ministry warned Friday that China and Russia share a “common strategic goal” of creating a new international order so that they can use force to change the status quo more easily.
Both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin “have a hostile view of the existing global order based on the fundamental values of freedom and democracy,” Japan’s National Institute for Defense Studies said in its China Security Report.
Xi and Putin regard the current order as an “obstacle” to enhancing their interests and further stepped up their collaboration to change the situation, it said.
The annual report came as Japan and other democracies led by the United States have grown more vigilant against China’s provocative military activities in the Indo-Pacific region and have condemned Russia for its invasion of Ukraine since February 2022.
China’s ruling Communist Party has been attempting to change the post-Cold War international order to protect its “core interests” through the use of force, with the aim of ensuring the security of its authoritarian political system, the report said.
Xi has described Taiwan as a core interest and has pledged to reunify the self-ruled democratic island with the mainland, by force if necessary. Beijing and Taipei have been governed separately since they split in 1949 due to a civil war.
Meanwhile, Xi considers Russia, which has adopted a more assertive stance against Western countries and the NATO-led European security framework, an “important strategic partner” in working toward transforming the existing order, the think tank said.
By strengthening military cooperation, including joint patrols in waters surrounding Japan, it is possible China and Russia may form a “de-facto alliance,” the report said. So far, it is believed that the two nations have not built a military alliance.
Tension between the China-Russia camp and U.S.-led democracies seeking to maintain the status quo is expected to escalate and persist in the long term, with the involvement of developing and emerging countries in the “Global South,” the report said.
In a bid to tackle China and Russia, Japan should beef up its defense capabilities and bolster its alliance with the United States while promoting diplomacy with nations, such as those in Southeast Asia, which share fundamental values, it added.
