.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...