China and Russia – Competition or Cooperation ?

Recent news on Belarus are raising US suspicion of a planned cooperation between Belarus, China and Russia to achieve the strategic goal of an 'Eurasian Integration' that would leave Western Europe apart and weaken the global position of the United States.

Click here ! Quotations from Chinese media on the subject.

A Chinese Evaluation of Russia - A Glimpse of the Truth

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the Russian-Ukrainian war, here is a rare evaluation of Russia in the view of a Chinese commentator working for a majority state-owned Chinese medium.

Click here ! Excerpts from the Original Article

Other Chinese sources dealing with the Russian-Ukrainian war:

Related information on Russia 03-02-2023:
Chinese view on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Russian general on satellite TV: After Ukraine,
Poland will be next, rest of Europe will follow.
Chinese info on Russian intentions 07-02-2023

The Iranian-Afghan-Chinese Alliance State of the Art in 2023

Update on latest development
included on 7 January 2023.

One year ago, on 28 January 2022, some Chinese comment discussed the feasability of a joint Iranian-Afghan-Chinese oil pipeline project intended to connect Iranian oil fields with China's western province of Xinjiang via northern Afghanistan.

In March 2021, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Tehran and signed a 25-year joint comprehensive political, economic and cultural cooperation agreement with Iran. In January this year [i.e. 2022], the foreign minister of the new Iranian government paid a return visit to China, and the 25-year cooperation agreement was officially implemented. In other words, the Lehi government, which came to power in August 2021, continued the Rouhani government's China policy, and even went a little further. Energy issues are particularly prominent within the framework of cooperation. In the context of the withdrawal of the US military from Afghanistan and the Taliban being on friendly terms with China, and under the premise of Afghan society being stabilized, the connection of Iran’s Persian Gulf (outlet to the sea) to China’s Xinjiang oil pipelines running through Afghanistan would greatly reduce the possibility of China’s energy source being blocked. The agreement solves the problem of Iran's energy guarantee to China. At the same time, taking into account the long-term nature of Afghanistan's construction, the time is set at 25 years, giving China sufficient time for construction.

Today now, on 6 January 2023, German National Radio 'Deutschlandfunk' quoted an external source on China having signed a contract with the Taliban government in Afghanistan for the exploitation of an oil field.

Hours later, some Chinese source confirmed the fact of negotiations on exploitation rights between China and the Taliban. The location of a certain oil field in question was specially mentioned. It should be lying in the Amudarya region where crude oil and natural gas reserves had already been known to exist, at the time US military engaged in Afghanistan in the aftermath of the 'September 11 incidents' of 2001.

However, up to now the security problem is still an issue in Afghanistan, even though Taliban authorities are doing their best to please their friendly Chinese partners. The prove is a recent attack of terrorists on a Kabul hotel that is being regularly frequented by Chinese visitors to Afghanistan.

Around 2:30 pm on 12 December 2022, local time, several terrorists suddenly broke into a hotel in the center of Kabul. According to foreign media, this is a "hotel very popular with Chinese people". Taliban security forces rushed in immediately and killed three armed men on the spot.

Looking at the picture, there are Chinese characters written on the outer wall of the hotel: Kabul Guiyuan Hotel.

Days before, Chinese diplomats had allegedly contacted the deputy minister for security of the Taliban to ensure enforcement of security for the Chinese embassy.

The day after the incident some Chinese source reported:

阿富汗传来一个坏消息 与我们中国人有关
Title: Bad news from Afghanistan are related to our Chinese.

谁干的？
正与塔利班进行交战的“伊斯兰国”。就在北京时间13日早晨，看到最新的一条消息，“伊斯兰国”已宣布对桂园饭店袭击负责。
很多人认为塔利班极端，但真正极端的其实是“伊斯兰国”。

Who did it ?
"Islamic State" fighting the Taliban. Just on the morning of the 13th [December] Beijing time, I saw the latest news that the "Islamic State" had declared responsibility for the attack on the Guiyuan Hotel.
Many people think that the Taliban is extreme, but the real extreme is actually the "Islamic State".

After news about an Afghan-Chinese oil deal recently spread on the internet, latest Chinese publications stressed the humanitarian character of China's cooperation with the Taliban, even mentioning the goal of promoting woman rights in Afghanistan. One report made it clear that about 3.000 Afghan workers could be employed in the frame of the Chinese oil exploitation program. However, China doesn't seem to be fully satisfied with support provided by the Taliban.

Above: What looks like the signing of a contract, should be
the delivery of aid materials to the Taliban authorities.

....................

On the contrary, things between China and Iran are running rather smoothly since 2022.

Above: Iran's Chabahar port soon open to Chinese ships [04-01-2023].

Above: Chinese article on the history of Iranian-Chinese relations [05-01-2023].

Japan Reacts on Foreign Military Threats

Today, the Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida is going to officially launch a major change in Japan's military strategy, thus switching from a mere defensive attitude of its military to the enforcement of its first responder abilities including the means of a direct attack on foreign missile launch sites. The reasons of that change of policy are recent North Korean missile tests that were harming Japan's zone of military defense, leaving Japan only minutes to react in times of war. According to recent news, this goes side by side with an alleged intrusion of Chinese and Russian war planes into Japan's zone of military defense and China's policy in the South China Sea and towards Taiwan.

For the purpose of shaking-up its military abilities, Japan is expected to up its security spending to two percent of GDP by 2027, reshape its military command, and acquire new missiles that can strike far-flung enemy launch sites.

China's news center CHINA.COM 中华网 immediately answered to Japan's decision to promote an essential change in its military strategy in order to respond to an increasing danger from China. They are saying that China's policy of opening up to its neighbours has triggered an increase of Chinese tourists visiting Japan, thus promoting Japanese earnings from tourism. Furthermore, China's splendid economic development offers a chance for Japanese business as well of investing in China.

North Korea - Corona Outbreak - Latest News

（平壤17日综合电）朝鲜冠病疫情延烧，朝中社周三报道，当地过去一天新增23万2800宗发烧个案，再多6人死亡，累计个案增至超过171万宗，62人死亡，仍约69万人正接受治疗。 ..... 官方报道又指，近3000名军人进驻平壤数百间药房，启动24小时报务，协助寿措医疗物资和供应。近500个机动防疫组和治疗组，亦在全国展开诊断和治疗工作。

On [May] 17, a comprehensive report from Pyongyang informed that North Korea's coronavirus epidemic continues to spread. On Wednesday [May 18], the North Korean Central News Agency reported 232,800 new cases of 'fever' having emerged the day before. Six more people died, bringing the total to more than 1.71 million cases [of infections], with 62 deaths and about 690,000 people still receiving treatment.
.....
Official reports also stated that nearly 3,000 soldiers are stationed in hundreds of pharmacies in Pyongyang, reporting every 24-hours, in order to assist life saving measures with medical supplies and [direct] response. Nearly 500 mobile epidemic prevention teams and treatment teams are carrying out diagnosis and treatment work as well across the country.

[星洲网 A Chinese language news center from Malaysia on May 18]

Easter Bonfire in Times of War

This year the Easter Bonfire is no longer a sign of revival but a reminder of destruction.

Chinese Obituary for a Russian Battleship

Here is an unusual obituary for battleship 'Moscow', flagship of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Even though modernized, it should have served the Russian navy during the last 40 years. Now it sank due to an 'explosion of ammunition', probably incited by Ukrainian forces using cutting edge anti-ship missiles.

As to the destruction of the Ukrainian Antonov AN-225, the biggest aircraft ever built, here is a video footage showing the damage inflicted by Russian military and which is mentioned in the above 'obituary':

Evacuation of Russia's Flagship in the Black Sea

UPDATE on April 15, 2020:
Russia's flagship 'Moscow' sank within hours after
having suffered from a detonation of ammunition.

China's Global Journal - Global Network 环球时报环球网, quoted by other media from Mainland China, reported the following news:

乌克兰敖德萨军政管理局负责人13日表示，乌军使用“海王星”导弹重创了俄黑海舰队旗舰“莫斯科号”导弹巡洋舰。乌克兰总统办公室主任顾问阿列斯托维奇也对乌克兰媒体表示“莫斯科号”导弹巡洋舰中弹起火。

[An official Ukrainian source stated on April 13:] The Ukrainian army used the 'Neptun' missile to seriously damage missile cruiser 'Moscow', the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

The R-360 Neptun missile system is the latest Ukrainian version of a Russian system. It was pre-produced in small series in 2021 and planned to enter military service by 2022.

Poland - Russia Behind Polish Leader's Plane Crash ?

Yesterday, April 11, the news agency American Press AP quoted the Polish Press Agency PAP as follows:

The latest of the commission’s reports, released Monday, alleges that an intentional detonation of planted explosives caused the April 10, 2010 crash of Soviet-made Tu-154M plane that killed [Poland's president Lech] Kaczynski, the first lady and 94 other government and armed forces figures as well as many prominent Poles.

Their deaths were the result of an “act of unlawful interference by the Russian side,” the commission's head Antoni Macierewicz told a news conference.

"The main and indisputable proof of the interference was an explosion in the left wing ... followed by an explosion in the plane's center," said Macierewicz, who in 2015-2018 served as defense minister in Poland's right-wing government.

He denied that any mistakes were made by the Polish pilots or crew members, despite bad weather at the time of the crash. [The crash took place on a military airfield near Smolensk, Russia.]

Editor's Note:
The above quoted Polish sub-committee report has an official status, and PAP is a government financed press agency. However, political development in EU member state Poland has become complicated in recent years. As American Press AP put it: The latest report once again drums up hostility toward Russia among some Poles, chiefly supporters of the nationalist government, in what seems to be an effort to consolidate the voter base of the Law and Justice party, which was founded by the Kaczynski twins in 2001.

Ukraine - Beijing Blaming the West

Important UPDATE
added on April 8

Yesterday, April 6, semi-official People's Network published a statement given by the spokesman for the Chinese Mission to the European Union. That statement rejects EU accusations of China spreading unacceptable Russian conspiracy theories on the issue of the Ukrainian war, blaming the United States and NATO.

The Chinese statement indirectly hints at America's foreign policy under former US presidents like George W. Bush and which had led to the destabilization of Afghanistan and Iraq, yet without directly naming anybody. Published by China's semi-official online voice, that statement revives the idea of what the Chinese people got to know as 'US imperialism', allegedly representing a hegemonial attitude based on wrong accusations and tactical lies and which doesn't even refrain from the use of military force.

The statement, however, doesn't show any shift of position on the Chinese side. It only reiterates what is already known about China's verbal intention to recognize basic norms of international relations while acting in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and its commitment to promote peace talks and efforts to cool down the situation.

发言人重申，中方在乌克兰问题上的立场是一贯的、明确的，也是客观的、公允的。有关文章刻意歪曲中国立场主张，中方对此表示强烈不满、坚决反对。我们提醒有关人士不要选择性失明。这几十年来，是谁散布虚假信息发动战争侵犯别国的主权和领土完整？是谁不断扩大地域领域影响扰乱了地区稳定？是谁挑起冲突造成了大规模人道主义灾难？这样的责任，还需要“归咎”吗？双重标准欺骗不了世人的眼睛，旧冷战时代的盟友阵营绝不能代表公平正义。

The spokesperson [for the Chinese Mission to the European Union] reiterated that China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent, clear, objective and fair. The relevant article deliberately distorts China's position and proposition. China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to this. We remind those concerned not to be selectively blind. In the past few decades, who has spread false information and launched wars to violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries? Who is constantly expanding regional influence and disrupting regional stability? Who provoked the conflict and caused the massive humanitarian disaster? Does such responsibility still need to be "blamed"? Double standards cannot deceive the eyes of the world, and the alliance of the old Cold War era can never represent fairness and justice.

AFP [on a regular press conference]: EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Borrell said that Chinese officials were reluctant to talk about Ukraine during the China-EU leaders' meeting last week. How do you respond to this?

Zhao Lijian [spokesman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs]: A few days ago, the leaders of China and the EU held a very successful meeting. The remarks of the relevant European officials you just mentioned are not in line with the facts. What the relevant EU officials should do is to advance the bilateral relations between China and the EU in accordance with the consensus and spirit reached at the China-EU leaders' meeting, instead of making irresponsible remarks.

Only one day after the official statement was made by China's EU Mission, immediately confirmed by a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a more popular and less diplomatic version of China's stance appeared as 'personal view' in China's Defense Journal.

Ukraine - Why China Won't Openly Oppose Russia

Last Update: April 05, 2022

China's Policy of "Saying One Thing, Doing Another"

Eurasianet, a news center specialized on the Caucasus region and Central Asia, came to the following conclusion:

Since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China has said all the right things in support of Russia, its professed strategic partner. Chinese officials have faithfully repeated Russian propaganda, refusing to describe the unprovoked attack on Ukraine as a “war” or “invasion,” while echoing the Kremlin claim that NATO’s expansionist desires are the root cause of the conflict.

But Beijing’s actions are telling a different story, underscored by the March 9 Foreign Ministry announcement that the Chinese Red Cross is supplying almost $800,000 in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The amount is small, but the gesture is significant in the current context: Chinese leaders are hedging their geopolitical bets.

It was just over a month ago that Russian leader Vladimir Putin met with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, at the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The two issued a joint statement describing bilateral relations as “superior to political and military alliances of the Cold War era,” and cooperation as having “no limits.”

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, however, China’s behavior toward Russia has been circumspect and restrained, its officials proclaiming solidarity with Russia without following up in substance. Before Russian troops attacked, Chinese officials spoke against Western sanctions. But once the United States and European Union started imposing sanctions and disconnecting Russian banks from the SWIFT financial network, leading Chinese financial institutions began quietly adhering to the restrictions, according to Bloomberg news service.

Related Article: Chinese fleeing Ukraine - Official Support


Strategic Benefits for China

A personal view published in the Chinese Financial Times Network put it that way:

There is now a popular view at home and abroad that China will be an important beneficiary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The reason is that the Russia-Ukraine conflict highlights the contradiction between Russia and the West, especially the United States, and leads the United States' strategic focus from Asia to Europe, which will reduce the international pressure on China. In other words, China will be the winner of this geopolitical conflict. To demonstrate this point, the claim often cites the US war in Afghanistan as an example. After President George W. Bush took office in 2001, he planned to exert more pressure on China, but the "9·11" terrorist attack in 2001 completely changed this situation. In the following 20 years, the United States has devoted itself to combating international terrorism, thus easing the pressure on China. China has therefore won 20 years of golden development opportunities and made great strides in economic construction. Now, at a time when the United States regained focus on deploying a geopolitical strategy of "back to Asia" and treating China as a strategic competitor, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out again, which prompted the United States to reconsider its global strategy and allocate more power to Europe.

It is therefore that China will not be inclined to join ranks with a global majority of nations to oppose Putin's war on Ukraine. China's priority would rather be a silent reconstruction of global alliances and delivery chains to compensate for the damage inflicted by Putin's war on China's 'One Road One Belt' strategy in Central Asia.

Furthermore, showing public disagreement with Putin's macciavellian strategy for eastern Europe could reshift the focus of international criticism to China's own domestic and global strategies.


China Still Follows its Global Economic Strategy
On April 2, the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong published an article titled "Why the War in Ukraine Won't Derail China's "One Belt, One Road" Initiative's ambitious goals". The author is Hong Kong - APEC Trade David Dodwell, executive director of the Policy Research Group.

欧亚铁路是个惊人的成功。去年，大约有150万个集装箱往来于中国与23个欧洲国家的130个城市之间，在疫情扰乱了海运和空运之际，占中欧贸易的5%至8%。

俄乌冲突无疑扰乱了运输，但长期来看，认为这将产生重大影响是不准确的。

对北京而言，欧亚铁路只是中国争取世界贸易市场准入多样化、减少对马六甲海峡和苏伊士运河的依赖、确保能够长期获得国内长期供应不足的大宗商品渠道的众多项目之一。根据路孚特公司“一带一路”倡议数据库统计，它已包括全球2631个项目，总价值达3.7万亿美元。

从这个角度看，“一带一路”为一个不稳定的世界提供了极其重要的防御。欧亚铁路短期损失部分集装运输业务，不会让中国人夜不能寐。

The Eurasian Railway was an astonishing success. About 1.5 million containers travelled between China and 130 cities in 23 European countries last year, accounting for 5-8% of trade between China and Europe at a time when the pandemic has disrupted sea and air freight.

The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has undoubtedly disrupted transportation, but it would be inaccurate to think that this will have a significant impact in the long run.

For Beijing, the Eurasian railway is just one of many projects China is seeking to diversify market access to world trade, reduce its reliance on the Straits of Malacca and the Suez Canal, and ensure long-term access to commodities that are chronically undersupplied at home. According to Refinitiv's Belt and Road Initiative database, it already includes 2,631 projects around the world with a total value of US$3.7 trillion.

From this perspective, the Belt and Road Initiative provides an extremely important defense against an unstable world. The Eurasian Railway will lose some container transportation business in the short term, which will not keep the Chinese up at night.


Related Article: Putin's War - China's Perception

Putin - The Psychology of His Species

U.S. President Biden, notorious for his unexpected and open-hearted remarks that usually require immediate correction from his advisors, once put it that way: 'Putin is a man without a soul'.

Biden seen as an empathic personality might be right about that, at least in the clerical sense he defines a 'human soul'. But what else did we expect from a Russian leader who emerged from the dark empire of the Soviet Union as a shrewd member of his country's intelligence.

Biden, like most politicians raised in what we call the 'free world', has undergone a public development that excluded the secret formation of a 'dark triad personality'. As a result, people belonging to the three groups of dark triad personalities (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism) would find it difficult to hide their inclination from the public when striving for the highest-ranking positions of their country. In fact, we find it easy to detect such persons in public life, starting from Senator McCarthy up to President Donald Trump, not to mention McCarthy's right hand Roy Cohn who should have played, as well, a role in the personal formation of young Donald Trump. Sometimes it is just their special inclination which makes up for their public attraction, - or public rejection on the contrary.

A dark triad personality is usually connected with a lack of empathy, however, there are some of them who are unexpectedly gifted with a fully developed empathy they could use to follow their dark inclination.

"A dark empath may actually be more dangerous than a more cold and unfeeling dark triad type, because the so-called dark empath can draw you in closer—and do more harm as a result," says Ramani Durvasula, PhD, clinical psychologist and author of "Don't You Know Who I Am?": How To Stay Sane in an Era of Narcissism, Entitlement, and Incivility. "The closer you are to someone, the more you can hurt them."



Basic information on the subject is given in the linked article. As to the characteristics of dark empaths scientists found out:

Though the aggression reported by the dark empaths was not as high as the traditional dark triad group, the danger of this personality profile is that their empathy, and likely resulting social skills, make their darkness harder to spot. We believe that dark empaths have the capacity to be callous and ruthless, but are able to limit such aggression. [Nadja Heym, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, and Alexander Sumich, Associate Professor of Psychology, both Nottingham Trent University]

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin had been raised in the post-Stalinist era, flooded with an aggressive propaganda which was directed against real and imagined enemies of the Soviet Union. Like many other youths of his age he was attracted by the adventurous and heroic world of state security, a world of deception, lies and sometimes bloody terror that must have deeply influenced a young personality in his development. So he became familiar with the 'dark triad' aspect of some kind of secret brotherhood which existed apart from daily life.

What made him so successful inside KGB and boostered his career, that was his strong empathic ability to evaluate people and manipulate them. This was confirmed by one of his former superiors in a video.

German ex-chancellor Schröder and 'best friend' Putin

Putin can therefore be seen as a typical 'dark empath' as defined by modern psychology.

As long as he remained in the shadow of a secret organisation, his personal inclination remained in the dark as well. But when his efficiency in solving problems for the Jelzin administration finally brought him into the office of a prime-minister of Russia, things changed dramatically. In a video interview after his inauguration, he obviously felt unwell facing the necessity to lead a public life.

In the end, however, he came to terms with his newly won popularity. Successful suppression of the Russian media and of opposition groups and activists reduced the slightest risk for him to lose his face in the public. There is simply nobody left in an influential position who might get in his way. And the Russian people are so much indoctrinated by the official media that they have come to believe anything or fear to show the slightest sign of disagreement.


A history of Vladimir Putin by Dr. Mark Felton
produced for his non-political history channel.


Putin on Russian 'traitors'
within the oligarch class.

Putin's War - China's Perception

- Update added below on March 27 -

The following text about Putin's war on Ukraine has been quoted from a Chinese source considered as semi-official:

西方民众通过一边倒的网络了解这场战争，自然只能形成一边倒的民意。据美联社报道，2月23日的民调显示，26%的美国人认为美国应该在这场冲突中发挥重要作用。而28日，已有83%的美国人支持加大对俄制裁。而这正是美国政府需要的民意。

Western people understand this war through one-sided networks, and naturally they can only form one-sided public opinion. According to the Associated Press, a Feb. 23 poll found that 26% of Americans believe the United States should play a major role in the conflict. On the 28th, 83% of Americans supported increasing sanctions against Russia. And that's exactly what the U.S. government needs.

德国历史学家特奥多尔·蒙森曾经说过:“战争重要的是求取政治上的成果,而不是军事上的成功。”今天的战争，可能还要加上一条，求取舆论场上的胜利。因为这方面的成功不仅会影响战争的走势，还可能影响战争后时期国家的长期发展。普京要想取得军事和舆论两条战线上的胜利，不容易。

The German historian Theodor Mommsen (*) once said: "The important thing in war is to seek political results, not military success." Today's war may have to add another one, seeking victory in the field of public opinion. Because success in this area will not only affect the course of the war, but may also affect the long-term development of the country in the post-war period. It is not easy for Putin to achieve victory on both the military and public opinion fronts.

(*) Theodor Mommsen 特奥多尔·蒙森 [1817-1903] was a German scholar who became known for historical research on antiquity.

And here is what another editor marked as 'personal opinion':

The three points Putin did not expect are listed in the article as follows:

1. Putin did not expect the Ukrainian army to be so tenacious. ......
2. Unexpectedly, the reaction from the US and Europe was so intense. ......
3. The combat mode of the Russian army is so clumsy.
A large number of tanks have been destroyed, many armored vehicles have been abandoned, and supply lines have been cut off, all of which have been experienced by the Russian army in the past month. Whether it is the siege of Kiev, Kharkov, or the fierce battle for Mariupol, the Russian army's way of advancing is still the same. Tank cannons play the leading role.
..........

2022年，黑天鹅多，灰犀牛多，令人意想不到的闹剧更多，只期待俄乌早日握手言和，让这场残酷的战争走向结尾，接着打下去，只能是让美国坐收渔利。

In 2022, there will be more black swans, more gray rhinos, and more unexpected farces. We only hope that Russia and Ukraine will shake hands and make peace as soon as possible, so that this cruel war will come to an end. If we continue to fight it, we can only let the United States earn the benefits.

......................

UPDATE March 27:

On March 27 semi-official SINA quoted Russia's presidential spokesman Peskov as saying, Biden's evaluation of Putin as a 'butcher' and who 'should not rule Russia' surprised him, given that Biden once supported the 'bombing of Yugoslavia' in 1999. It might not have been NATO's brightest hour to bomb the capital of Serbia, considered as a rogue state at that time. But two Serbian nationalist leaders, Milosevic and Karasic, were behind a bloody war that destabilized multinational Yugoslavia. Both of them were tried much later for genocide before the International Court of Justice in Den Haag. Milosevic died in his prison cell before the court reached a decision on him while Karasic and military leader Mladic were finally sentenced as war criminals. I still remember the news of the Chinese embassy being accidentally hit in the Belgrade bombing.

About Russia's Losses in War .....

Official Data from the Ukrainian Military:

Who's Afraid of Hypersonic Vladimir ?

Lets talk about hypersonic missiles:
Well, the Russians have them. The Chinese have them. The US as well. Not to forget the North Koreans.

Only difference so far: Russia showed off its Kinzhal missiles in a battlefield environment and destroyed two enemy targets in the frame of Putin's 'specially operated war' on Ukraine.

We understand that such weapons are constructed to outwit enemy missile defense systems, especially when hypersonic gliders change their direction during flight. But if that's really successful under war conditions, nobody knows up to know.

中新网3月22日电 - 在乌克兰展开军事行动22天后，俄军首次祭出“匕首”高超音速导弹。

不过，美西方官员和媒体对这一强大武器的评论，有点“酸”。有西方专家称，俄罗斯这是在“炫技”，还有媒体称，俄罗斯只想获得一种“吓唬所有人”的心理优势。

China News Service, March 22 - Twenty-two days after the launch of military operations in Ukraine, the Russian military launched the "Dagger" hypersonic missile for the first time.

However, American and Western officials and media's comments on this powerful weapon are a bit "sour". Some Western experts said that Russia is "showing off its skills", and some media said that Russia just wants to gain a psychological advantage to "scare everyone".

The photo included in the above quoted article is showing a Russian MIG-31 able to carry hypersonic weapons.

Link to a Chinese video about Russia's hypersonic missiles
based on the 3M22 Zircon system that should reach Mach 7.

San Diego Times on March 21, 2022