“Framing the World” is an analysis series that offers detailed insights into the key dynamics of international politics. The series is organized by geographic region—Asia, the Americas, Africa & MENA, and Europe—and each week features a thematic focus consisting of several coordinated articles. The goal is to provide clear and accessible perspectives on major global developments through the collaborative work of the editorial team.
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Russia-China Military Cooperation: Russian Officers in Beijing.
Military integration between Russia and China has taken another step forward over the past year, through the direct involvement and joint training of high-ranking Russian officers. In fact, according to confidential documents and intelligence sources reviewed by Reuters, in November 2025, approximately 200 Russian military personnel reportedly underwent training at facilities of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, after which some of them were deployed to Ukraine. The mission, authorized in August 2025 by Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, represents a significant step in direct cooperation between the two countries’ respective armed forces.
The details that have emerged about the courses reveal an exchange of expertise in areas that are typically treated with the utmost confidentiality. In fact, a three-week session in Beijing focused exclusively on radiological, chemical, and biological protection techniques—operational areas that military organizations generally keep strictly confidential.
Internal reports from the Russian armed forces reviewed by Reuters offer a clear assessment of this collaboration: while Moscow praises Beijing’s high technology, the use of advanced simulators, and the instructors’ excellent theoretical training, it also notes the Chinese contingent’s complete lack of practical experience. The training thus proves to be a mutual benefit, allowing Beijing’s forces to test their theoretical procedures against the expertise the Russians have gained over more than four years of actual combat.
Despite Chinese government denials, the news provoked an immediate reaction in Europe. The European Union, which has already imposed sanctions on Chinese companies accused of supporting Moscow’s military logistics, is assessing the implications of this cooperation. On June 15, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, stated that Brussels had verified through independent channels that these meetings had indeed taken place. At the same time, Germany summoned the Chinese ambassador for an urgent meeting to seek clarification, thereby officially confirming the revelations published in recent days by the weekly magazine Der Spiegel.
Francesco Oppia
Anthropic Takes on Chinese Loopholes: The Race for AI (Also) Involves By-passing Bans.
While Moscow and Beijing are strengthening their military ties, on the technological front, China is moving along an opposite yet complementary path: not an overt alliance, but a quiet circumvention of Western bans.
On July 3, the Financial Times revealed that Anthropic, one of the U.S. AI companies with the strictest restrictions on the Chinese market, is closing the loopholes that have allowed companies like Ant Financial and ByteDance to access its models. The methods are ingenious: corporate accounts routed through subsidiaries in Singapore, refunds for personal subscriptions used via VPN, and relay services that reroute requests from accounts registered abroad. None of this is illegal under U.S. or Chinese law, but it all violates the terms of service, which prohibit use by Chinese entities and their foreign subsidiaries.
Why all the interest? Anthropic’s coding tools, such as Claude Code, are particularly sought after because their outputs lend themselves to “distillation”—the technique by which smaller models are trained to mimic more capable ones. Access to Claude essentially means accelerating the development of in-house models.
This is lies the most significant point: despite the rise of increasingly competitive Chinese models and growing barriers, engineers in Beijing continue to view American products as an indispensable reference point. It is a reflection of a technological interdependence that resists geopolitical de-coupling.
What emerges is a two-speed landscape. On the security front, Russia and China are consolidating an explicit alliance; on the innovation front, however, China remains tied to a supply chain in which the United States maintains an advantage that no ban can fully protect, nor any VPN can nullify. In short, the competition between superpowers is played out not only across opposing blocs but also through the doors left half-open.
Valeria Picciolo
“Framing The World” is a project conceived and created through the collaboration of a team of associates at Mondo Internazionale.
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