FPI / February 25, 2022
Amid the ongoing situation in Ukraine, the Kremlin is gathering vital intelligence which could be especially valuable for China's People’s Liberation Army (PLA), military analysts say. Russia and China signed an intelligence-sharing agreement several years ago.
“There is no question that the PLA will be receiving intelligence about how the U.S. and NATO have responded to this contingency,” said retired Navy Capt. Jim Fanell, a former Pacific Fleet intelligence director.
Non-government flight trackers have disclosed what appear to be U.S. military ISR — intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance — flights in and around Ukraine, according to a report by security correspondent Bill Gertz.
The crisis in Ukraine is “the gift that keeps on giving” for China, an analyst said.
“As China’s leaders watch events unfold in Ukraine, they will understandably try to copy some of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s tactics, identify critical weaknesses in the response of the U.S. and its allies, and then try to avoid some of Putin’s mistakes,” Minxin Pei, a professor of government at Claremont McKenna College wrote for Japan’s Asia Nikkei.
The Biden administration’s reluctance to go to war with Russia over Ukraine may be interpreted by the communist regime in Beijing as based on fears of a potential nuclear-armed conflict, Pei said.
“If this is indeed the lesson, we should not be surprised if the Ukraine crisis further energizes China to invest more in its military capabilities and raise the stakes of a potential war over Taiwan to a level unacceptable for the U.S.,” he said.
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