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BEIJING - China and Russia began the second stage of their first joint military drills early Saturday, shifting to China's northeast coast after two days of exercises near the Russian port of Vladivostok, the Chinese government said. The war games are the result of warming ties between former Cold War enemies Moscow and Beijing, motivated by growing concern at U.S. dominance of world affairs. The drills near Qingdao, the site of a major Chinese naval base on the Shandong peninsula in the Yellow Sea, are to include a joint landing to practice stabilizing a fictional country. About 7,000 Chinese troops...

QINGDAO, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The second phase of the Sino-Russia joint military exercise started in east China's Shandong Peninsula Saturday morning. (Photos of Russian and Chinese troops and equipment) The new phase of exercise, dubbed "Peace Mission 2005", mainly focused on delivery and outspread, adjusting decisions, and organizing coordinated actions. Weapons and logistic and telecom support have all been ready for the joint drill, military sources at the spot said. The Chinese and Russian troops had already had their first joint practice on the three courses in the Shandong peninsula and its nearby seawaters on Aug. 14, 15...

.S. military officials said yesterday they will be watching closely as China and Russia prepare for unprecedented joint military exercises later this month to be staged on a Chinese province close to the Korean Peninsula. Dubbed "Peace Mission 2005," the Aug. 18 to 25 exercises between the two Cold War rivals will involve about 10,000 troops, as well as Russian fighter planes and paratroopers and China's growing nuclear submarine fleet. .... The exercises, seen as hard evidence of a warming alliance between the two powers against U.S. influence in Asia, have sparked concern across the region, particularly in Taiwan, which...