CaliToday (27/9/2025): Russia has agreed to train and equip Chinese paratroopers for a potential airborne assault on Taiwan, according to a massive cache of leaked documents that exposes the deepening military alliance between Moscow and Beijing.
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| The contracts serve as a warning to the West over the alliance between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping - ALEXANDER KAZAKOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images |
The 800-page trove of documents, which has been independently verified by analysts at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), reveals that Beijing is set to purchase dozens of Russian military vehicles and advanced heavy-cargo parachute systems, as well as receive direct training from Russian forces on how to operate them in combat scenarios.
Analysts at RUSI, a leading UK defense and security think tank, stated the deal would grant China "expanded air-mobile capabilities" and provide "assault options against Taiwan, the Philippines, and other island nations in the region." The agreement is seen by experts as a significant force multiplier for Beijing, allowing it to learn directly from Russia's more experienced airborne forces (VDV), whose capabilities still surpass China's.
A Deepening Alliance with Global Implications
The contracts and correspondence detailed in the leak serve as a stark warning to the West about the growing alignment between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping. The Russian president, who has been accused of menacing NATO in recent weeks, has become increasingly dependent on his Chinese counterpart for spare parts and dual-use technology to sustain his invasion of Ukraine.
In turn, President Xi has leveraged Moscow's battlefield experience to prepare for a potential invasion of Taiwan, an event which Western intelligence believes Beijing could be ready for by 2027. Beijing understands that while its military is now considered superior to Russia's in many aspects, it lacks comparable combat experience.
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| Russian troops perform a combat readiness check. Moscow has agreed to help train Chinese paratroopers - Yuri Smityuk\TASS via Getty |
In a sign of this close observation, Chinese representatives were recently sent to monitor the Zapad 2025 military exercises, jointly held by Russia and Belarus on NATO's border.
Solving a Strategic Puzzle for Invading Taiwan
China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has long sought viable methods to invade Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own territory. The leaked documents shed light on how they plan to overcome significant geographical and military hurdles:
Amphibious Assault: According to the RUSI analysis, a direct sea-based landing is considered "highly risky" due to the steep gradient of Taiwan's beaches, which makes them difficult for landing craft.
Airfield Seizure: An alternative tactic is to seize airports to fly in troops. However, the war in Ukraine demonstrated how effectively defenders can block and destroy runways to prevent such airborne landings by Russian forces.
The new deal provides a third, more flexible option: air-dropping armored vehicles and troops directly into Taiwan as part of a wider invasion force.
"Combat Power Will Significantly Increase"
The RUSI report, authored by Dr. Jack Watling and Oleksandr Danylyuk, states that "the ability to parachute armored vehicles onto golf courses, or other areas of open and firm ground near Taiwan's ports and airfields, would allow an airborne assault force to significantly increase its combat power and threaten to seize these facilities to clear the way for follow-on amphibious forces."
The contracts, initially obtained by the hacker group Black Moon, show that Russia agreed in October 2023 to equip an entire Chinese airborne battalion. Documents from a year later reveal that Moscow agreed to sell the PLA:
37 BMD-4M amphibious light infantry fighting vehicles.
11 Sprut-SDM1 self-propelled anti-tank guns.
11 BTR-MDM armored personnel carriers.
The agreements stipulate that the vehicles must be fitted with Chinese-made communications and command-and-control systems.
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| Russia and China demonstrate their military prowess at a parade in Beijing for the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War - Liu Xu/Xinhua via AP |
Under the deal, Russia will also train a Chinese airborne battalion to use the equipment on the battlefield. Initially, Chinese troops will travel to Russia for preliminary training, before a more extensive training camp is established in China. "Here, Russian instructors will prepare the battalion for landing, fire control, and maneuvering as part of an airborne unit," RUSI said.
Moscow will also establish a repair and maintenance center in China and transfer full technical manuals, allowing Beijing to modernize the vehicles in the future. The supplied Russian Dalnolyot parachute system will enable China to airdrop payloads of up to 190 kg from altitudes as high as 32,000 feet (approx. 9,700 meters), with a delivery range of 30-80 km.
