These joint efforts -- coinciding with the United States, Japan and South Korea staging their own maneuvers close to both China and North Korea -- suggest that both China and Russia had arrived at a newfound independence in the face of American challenges. Moreover, their allies in Syria and North Korea will now realize they have two potent counterweights to their efforts to chart their own potentially deadly courses. Shoigu proposed signing a comprehensive military cooperation agreement between Russia and China. At present, North Korea poses no real threat to China. This must be taken into consideration before Trump or Congress considers how the United States tightens the screws on China -- or Russia for that matter.

Source: CNN August 01, 2017 17:02 UTC