Russia and China launched a joint naval exercise in the Mediterranean on May 11 in what has been said to be the furthest from Russian and Chinese soil that this kind of exercise has ever taken place, according to Duowei News, a media outlet run by overseas Chinese.
Beijing is pressing its New Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives, which bridge several restive regions, the article noted. For the "Silk Road," the northern route is vulnerable to attacks by Xinjiang separatists while the southern route passes through terrorism hot spots in Pakistan, Afghanistan, northern Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. As for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, China hopes to open up the Indian Ocean ports of either Myanmar or Pakistan and pass through the Strait of Malacca to forge a path through the Middle East to Europe and Africa. Myanmar is unstable, however, and China will have to throw money at Pakistan to improve its ally's basic infrastructure. The Mediterranean meanwhile, where the Eurasian and African land masses converge, is also a crucial outpost for the Belt and Road plan.
Piracy and terrorism are endemic threats along the way, with overlapping tensions between Russia, the US and Saudi Arabia in the region, making the last mile of the plan the weakest link. In this light, the move by China is an attempt to assert its military power in the region and the country will likely attempt to normalize this presence, securing the Western section of the Belt and Road project.
Read the full story at Want China Times