Financial Times’ Supposedly Leaked Docs About Russia’s Chinese War Games Aren’t Scandalous

By Andrew Korybko

It would be a dereliction of duty for the military not to plan for any contingency no matter how remote such a scenario may be like in the case of a Russian-Chinese war.

The Financial Times (FT) published two pieces thus far from the stack of supposedly leaked documents that it claims to have obtained purporting to be Russian war games against China from 2008-2014. Kremlin spokesman Peskov questioned their authenticity while China played down their significance by reaffirming that these two strategically partnered Great Powers don’t have any disputes. Even so, this series has sparked speculation about their relations, though the alleged revelations aren’t scandalous.

It would be a dereliction of duty for the military not to plan for any contingency no matter how remote such a scenario may be like in the case of a Russian-Chinese war. Unexpected developments can always occur to turn today’s partner into tomorrow’s rival, in which case a country could be caught off guard with serious consequences for its national security if it hadn’t planned for this. No matter how much it’s denied, all countries have such contingency plans, and they don’t automatically imply aggressive intent.

The FT’s series drew attention to what it claims to be Russia’s lower-than-acknowledged threshold for using tactical nukes as well as the alleged lead-up to a Russian-Chinese war. The first was interpreted as a strategy to “escalate to de-escalate” while the second concerned events that mirrored the lead-up to Crimea’s reunification and the special operation (e.g. claims of ethnic cleansing and genocide). Neither are surprising since the former isn’t unique while the latter aligns with this era’s focus on human rights.

Nevertheless, the way in which they were presented was meant to spark speculation about Russian-Chinese ties by implying that Moscow never really trusted Beijing, so much so that it reportedly plotted to use tactical nukes to stop a large-scale invasion that could be launched on human rights pretexts. This innuendo isn’t just meant to drive a wedge between them, but also to recycle the common Western narrative about so-called “Chinese imperialism”, particularly towards Russia’s formerly Chinese Far East.

The timing of the FT’s report might be coincidental in the event that they only just recently received the supposedly leaked documents, or it could have been timed for now if they obtained them a while back but sat on everything until their editors (likely advised by MI6 in this scenario) decided to release this story. Nobody can say for certain, but the second possibility would suggest that something happened to prompt them to publish their report now instead of continuing to wait till a more advantageous time.

The only two significant developments that recently took place are Russia’s victory in Avdeevka and the US’ sanctions against Chinese companies accused of violating America’s unilateral restrictions. Washington has previously claimed that “China fuels the Russian war machine” through Beijing’s continued business with Moscow so some in America might partially blame the People’s Republic for the aforementioned victory, which adds context to why some of its companies were then sanctioned.

If the FT obtained these supposedly leaked documents a while back but sat on them until they were advised to release this story, then the ulterior motive could be to put additional pressure on Chinese companies not to do business with Russia on a faux patriotic basis. To be clear, this doesn’t mean that such a plot will succeed nor that it even exists since they might have only just recently received those documents, but it could partially account for the timing in the preceding scenario.

Altogether, there isn’t anything scandalous about what the FT allegedly revealed even if it’s true, though it’s obvious that the Mainstream Media is trying to artificially manufacture a scandal in order to drive a wedge between them. That won’t succeed, even though the supplementary plan of pressuring Chinese companies to de facto abide by the US’ anti-Russian sanctions might, albeit not on a faux patriotic basis. This information warfare provocation will therefore likely be soon forgotten just like practically all others.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Voice of East.

7 Courses in 1 – Diploma in Business Management

Categories: Analysis, Geopolitics, International Affairs

Tags: China, Geopolitics, Russia, USA