We have written many times that China is intent upon entering the South Caucasus region through its back door, that is, through Armenia.
As a realization of this intention, China has recently held a foundation laying ceremony for its embassy in Yerevan, which will be the second biggest embassy in the Eurasian region after Russia’s embassy complex.
It is obvious that the size of the Chinese embassy is proportional to Beijing's interests in the region as the size means a bigger number of employees.
Surprisingly, this interest of China has been recently confirmed in military cooperation, which promises many problems for Russia.
The matter here rests in an agreement signed in Beijing during the Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan’s visit to China where he met with his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan. According to the agreement, China will provide Armenia with 10 million yuan, or about $1.5 million.
During their meeting, Sargsyan and Wanquan stressed the importance of bilateral cooperation in training of military personnel. Sargsyan said the Armenian servicemen who graduate from Chinese military colleges become good officers and commanders, while Armenia is ready to expand a training program for Chinese military specialists.
What Sargsyan didn’t mention is that the Armenian military can only teach how to occupy other countries’ lands.
But why doesn’t Beijing question the dubious pleasure of helping an aggressor country and agrees to train its soldiers?
However, if we look at the issue from another side, it becomes obvious that the trained Armenian officers can perform certain functions for Beijing, taking into account China’s interests in the region, in general, in the zone of Russia’s influence in the South Caucasus and in particular, in Armenia.
China’s interest in Armenia became evident in 2015 when Chinese enterprises were ready to submit proposals on making investments in the Iran-Armenia railway. Nothing happened that time, but China voiced some plans and promises to the Armenian side.
China has recently become more active, when the China Machinery Engineering Corporation stated that it plans to make large-scale investments in Armenia’s construction and energy sectors.
At present, China is penetrating Armenia’s military not only by allocating funds, but also by participating in personnel training, which should make Moscow think about consequences.
Armenian armed forces have recently been more connected with the Russian military. For instance, Russia’s Federation Council ratified an agreement on the United Group of Russian and Armenian Troops in July. The United Group of Troops of Armenia and Russia will have to protect the land borders and airspace of the two countries. The countries also agreed to create a joint air defense system.
It means that the Armenian officers, having access to the Armenian military projects, will be able to tell a lot of interesting things about the Russian part of the projects.
And, of course, it is doubtful that Moscow will sit idly while China is strengthening its positions in Armenia. Yerevan will be forbidden to develop relations with China, just like it was diverted from cooperation with NATO.