왜, 러시아와 중국은 지중해에서 합동군사훈련을 하나요?

[피터 김]

왜 중국과 러시아 함정은 지중해를 해항하는가?

Why Are Chinese and Russian Ships Prowling the Mediterranean? By Jim Holmes May 20, 2015 - 3:07:31 AM

    

Why Are Chinese and Russian Ships Prowling the Mediterranean?

유럽의 해역에서 합동 해군훈련을 하는데는 그렇듯한 이유들이 있다, 허나 모스크바와 북경은 작은 잰체도 하지않는다.

There are good, simple reasons for the joint naval exercises in the waters off Europe. But Moscow and Beijing also ain't above a little swagger.

• 짐 홈즈  Jim Holmes
• May 15, 2015

Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/05/15/china-russia-navy-joint-sea-2015-asia-pivot-blowback/

 

5월11일에 러시아 해군과 중국인민해방군 해군은 9척의 함정을 10일간의 합동군사훈련에 출범시켰다. 이는 유럽 해역에서 벌어진 첫번째 해군 워게임인데 지중해에서 벌어진 것이다. 소위 "조인트씨 Joint Sea 2015" 라고 부르는 공동작전은 무슨 이유에서인가?

중국 국방부 대변인 겅 양셍 상좌에 따르면 "해역방어와 해역 보충, 에스코트 작전, 항해 안보를 보장하는 합동작전, 실사격훈련을 할예정이다," 라고 말한다. 이런 훈련의 목적은 양국간의 우호적이고 실제적 협력을 깊게 하는데 있다는 것이다.

이에 모스크바는 이번 훈련이 결코 제 3의 국가를 겨냥한게 아니라고 덧붙였다.

On May 11, nine ships from the Russian Navy and China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) kicked off 10 days of combined exercises in the Mediterranean Sea, for their first joint naval war games in European waters. What does this nautical confab, dubbed “Joint Sea 2015,” entail? “Maritime defense, maritime replenishment, escort actions, joint operations to safeguard navigation security as well as real weapon firing drill,” according to Sr. Col. Geng Yansheng, a spokesman for China’s Defense Ministry. The aim of the exercises is to “further deepen friendly and practical interaction between the two countries,” maintained the Russian Defense Ministry. Moscow added that the drills “are not aimed against any third country.”

Read more from FP on China’s navy

• 중국의 제1 항공모함이 기이한 항해를 하다 : 이것은 북경의 해양 야심을 말한다.
  
• The strange trip of China’s first aircraft carrier: And what it says about Beijing’s naval ambitions.

• 중국의 해양 전략 : 북경은 대양을 통제할 계획을 세우다
  
• China’s maritime strategy: How Beijing plans to rule the high seas.

• 태평양이 긴장한다 : 미군과 중국 해군은 충돌할 것인가?
  
• Tense times in the Pacific: Could the U.S. and Chinese navies clash?

양국은 완화하는 말을 내놓지만, 일부 서방 평론가들은 유럽의 한가운데 해역이 "이례적이고 도발적인 경연장으로 돌변했다고 평론했다.

그렇다, 모스크바와 북경은 지중해역을 정확히 도발적 상태로 만들 작정이다 - 이번 훈련은 40년전에 구소련이 항해하던 것을 재연한다. 연합 함대는 종내 나토의 남부 측면을 우회해서 나타날 것이다.

Despite the soothing words, some Western commentators opined that Europe’s middle sea constitutes an “unlikely and provocative venue” for this venture. Yes, Moscow and Beijing chose the venue precisely to be provocative — the exercise is a throwback to Soviet maneuvers in the Mediterranean 40 years ago. It was predictable that an allied fleet would eventually put in an appearance off NATO’s southern, nautical flank.

Does a Sino-Russian naval presence off NATO seaboards sound frightening to you? It shouldn’t — there’s nothing new nor especially worrisome here. It represents normalcy in a world of geostrategic competition — the kind of world that’s making a comeback following a quarter-century of seaborne U.S. hegemony. The United States wants to preserve its primacy, along with the liberal maritime order over which it has presided since the end of World War II. Challengers such as China and Russia want to amend that system while carving out their own places in the sun of great naval power. Irreconcilable differences over purposes and power beget open-ended strategic competition.

Hence deployments like Joint Sea 2015. Yes, exercises have functional uses like those outlined by Geng. But navies can also shape global and national opinion by constructing impressive warships, aircraft, and armaments. Showmanship plays a part when commanders display gee-whiz hardware to important audiences. Mariners impress by showing up in far-flung regions in sizable numbers, and by handling their ships and planes with skill and panache. And a seafaring state creates an even bigger sensation if its fleet deploys in concert with allies, backing their common cause with steel. Competitors, like China and the United States, can one-up one another through peacetime maneuvers — bucking up morale among allies and friends, helping court would-be partners, and disheartening rival alliances.

That’s the essence of great-power naval diplomacy, and it can pay off handsomely. The three-ship PLAN contingent — guided-missile frigates Linyi and Weifang, accompanied by fleet oiler Weishanhu — are taking a break from counterpiracy duty in the Gulf of Aden for Joint Sea 2015. The PLAN flotilla wended its way from the western Indian Ocean into the Red Sea, through the Eastern Mediterranean, and into the Black Sea. It tarried at the Russian seaport of Novorossiysk for Victory Day commemorations before exiting back into the Mediterranean in company with Russian Black Sea Fleet ships.

The interoperability challenge

Why go to the time, expense, and bother of assembling a fleet in European waters — so far from East Asia, the natural theater for Sino-Russian escapades? Let’s start with the obvious motive, and the official one. Russia and China are doubtless sincere about harvesting the dividends that come from steaming around together and practicing routine operations. Both navies need to learn, and they can learn from each other. China is constructing its first world-class navy since the 15th century. Russia is recovering from the dreary post-Cold War years when ships rusted at their moorings and sailors went unpaid. Both countries’ sea services are now trying to put things right following protracted intervals of decay — a lapse of centuries in China’s case, decades in Russia’s. So where does this newfound strength come from? Materiel — reliable, technologically sophisticated hardware and weaponry — and the proficiency of its users. Maneuvers like Joint Sea 2015 help the navies improve along both the material and human axes.