Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.
I'm RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish and here's what I'm following right now.
The Changing Face of The China-Russia Relationship
The United States accused China of providing "very substantial" aid to Russia's war effort as Beijing and Moscow wrapped up massive naval and air drills spanning both hemispheres.
Here's what's going on.
Finding Perspective: U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell told a group of journalists in Brussels on September 10 that Beijing was no longer supplying just dual-use goods that could be repurposed for military use but was now working explicitly to "help sustain, build, and diversify various elements of the Russian war machine."
"We're seeing efforts at the highest levels of both governments to try to both hide and protect certain elements of this worrisome collaboration," Campbell said.
In return, the senior official said Moscow had begun to provide Beijing with access to submarine, missile, and other closely guarded military tech it has historically resisted giving to China.
"The capabilities that Russia is providing is support in areas where previously they had been frankly reluctant to engage directly with China," Campbell said. "We are concerned about a particular number of military arenas where there appears to be some determination to provide China with greater support."
The accusations are the most unambiguous comments yet from a U.S. official about how deeply China and Russia are cooperating militarily and the growing extent of Beijing's help for Moscow's war effort.
Expanding The Scope: The new technologies that Campbell claims Russia is now sharing with China could also have a major effect in the Pacific, which was part of the focus from the recent "Ocean-24" exercises.
The naval and air drills spanned the Pacific and Arctic Oceans and the Mediterranean, Caspian, and Baltic seas while consisting of over 400 warships, submarines, and support vessels, more than 120 planes and helicopters, and over 90,000 troops.
The exercises began on September 10 and finished on September 16.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in comments to military officials that the war games are the largest of their kind in three decades, and that China's warships and planes were taking part. China confirmed this, saying the two countries' navies would sail together in the Pacific, but gave no details.
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said the drills were aimed to train "repelling large-scale aggression of a potential enemy from ocean directions, combating unmanned boats, unmanned aerial vehicles, defending naval bases, conducting amphibious operations and escorting transports."
Why It Matters: Both announcements highlight how the two countries are growing closer and crossing what were once deemed red lines.
This also points to the widening scope and symbiotic nature of China and Russia's ties.
The joint exercises help Moscow's long-cherished goal of building up its bonafides as a Pacific power, and Russia benefits from tensions in the Asia-Pacific because they distract the United States from paying full attention to Europe.
Similarly, China benefits from the war in Ukraine, as American resources and attention are diverted from being more solely focused on the Asia-Pacific.
At the recent Xiangshan Forum in Beijing, both Chinese and Russian defense officials took swipes at the West, with Russia saying the United States was shifting military conflicts to the Asia-Pacific.
There are still clear limits to the Beijing-Moscow relationship, especially for how China has approached navigating U.S. sanctions, but with neither on course to dial back their tensions with Washington, the two countries are set on a path of expanding partnership.
Three More Stories From Eurasia
1. A Landmark Case Moves Forward In Serbia
A Serbian court recently opened proceedings in the country's first publicly documented case of sex trafficking involving Chinese nationals, reports Mila Manojlovic, my colleague from RFE/RL's Balkan Service.
The Details: A criminal indictment obtained by RFE/RL through a freedom of information request says two Chinese women were trafficked to Serbia from China and then had their passports taken away from them, given only one meal per day, and forced under the threat of death to provide sexual services to men.
The indictment adds the two women were trafficked by a male Chinese citizen who "misled the victims" by promising to "find them a job as a masseuse" in Serbia and "provide housing and food" for them. He then forced them to have sex with men shortly after arriving in the Balkan country by threatening "to kill them" and warning "that he is powerful and can do anything to make them disappear."
The Chinese man, who has not been identified, was arrested in March by Serbian police in the eastern city of Bor and began his closed-door preliminary hearing on September 12 after being charged with human trafficking.
The legal case involving Chinese nationals is likely to test the increasingly friendly relations between China and Serbia.
2. China Steps Up Cooperation On Policing
China announced that it plans to train 3,000 foreign law enforcement officials over the next year to tackle global security issues and better protect Chinese interests beyond its borders.
What It Means: Chinese Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong made the pledge in an opening speech at the Global Public Security Cooperation Forum in Lianyungang on September 10.
Wang said Beijing would also send police consultants and working units to countries to help improve their law enforcement capacity, conduct joint patrols and investigations, and tackle cross-border crime.
Central Asia was in focus at the Forum, with Wang meeting his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
"China is willing to enhance the capability for counterterrorism and transnational crime fighting and build an efficient and pragmatic cooperation platform with Central Asian countries to achieve the vision of universal security," Wang said.
The forum coincided with police drills between Chinese and Serbian units in Guangzhou, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reported.
3. Xi Is Going Back To Russia
Chinese leader Xi Jinping will visit Russia in October to attend the summit for BRICS, the bloc of emerging economies that has Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa as founding members.
What You Need To Know: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi confirmed Xi's attendance on September 12 while he was in St. Petersburg meeting with Putin.
After 13 years without expansion, the bloc welcomed four new members into its ranks -- Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates -- and a growing list of countries, such as Azerbaijan and Turkey, have applied to join since then.
While not an explicitly anti-Western organization, BRICS is seen as part of Beijing's drive to counter U.S. influence around the globe.
This year's summit will be held in Kazan on October 22-24.
Xi last visited Russia in March 2023, and Putin reciprocated with his own trip to China in October that same year. The two leaders have since also met in Beijing in May and in Kazakhstan in July.
While meeting with Putin, Wang said the two leaders will also have a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the summit.
Across The Supercontinent
Hytera In Bosnia: Sarajevo police have chosen to use body cameras from a controversial Chinese company that is under scrutiny in Canada and the European Union and blacklisted in the United States over national security concerns, Meliha Kesmer and Andi Mioc from RFE/RL's Balkan Service report.
Brasilia Brushed Off: Speaking in an interview with the Brazilian media outlet Metropoles, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said a Chinese-Brazilian peace proposal announced last month was "destructive" and "mostly pro-Russian."
Steering Clear: While Putin is aiming to turn this year's BRICS summit into a larger diplomatic gathering that he hopes can show that he isn't isolated on the world stage, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said that he will not attend.
Off The Rails: China is no longer supplying Belarusian Railways with 15 locomotives because the trains contain American components that are not allowed to be exported to Belarus and the Chinese manufacturer CRRC is afraid of violating U.S. sanctions.
One Thing To Watch
Former Italian Premier Mario Draghi outlined his blueprint for improving the European Union's competitiveness through closer cooperation and massive investment.
The long-awaiting report on economic competitiveness calls for "radical change" as the EU faces aggressive economic competition from China and the United States.
Speaking to the European Parliament on September 17, Draghi said "Europe faces a choice between exit, paralysis, or integration." He took particular aim at relying on China to supply green technologies. While this might be the cheapest path forward to meet its climate goals, he said the bloc needs a more nuanced response to Chinese state-sponsored competitors to retain its own clean tech jobs.
The former European Central Bank chief said that for some products such as solar panels, where Chinese producers were too far ahead, the EU should let foreign taxpayers finance cheaper installation of cheap energy. Whereas for other sectors, such as batteries, Europe should not be dependent on foreign technology and should retain its know-how, with Draghi leaving the door open for tariffs on some subsidized Chinese firms.
"We do not want to become protectionist in Europe, but we cannot be passive if the actions of others are threatening our prosperity," Draghi said.
That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have.
Until next time,
Reid Standish
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