Chinese and Russian navies launched a joint exercise at a southern Chinese military port on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, days after the NATO allies called Beijing a “decisive facilitator” of the war in Ukraine.
BEIJING — Chinese and Russian navies launched a joint exercise at a southern Chinese military port on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency reported, days after the NATO allies called Beijing a “decisive facilitator” of the war in Ukraine.
The Chinese Defense Ministry said in a brief statement that forces from both sides recently patrolled the western and northern Pacific Ocean and that the operation had nothing to do with international and regional situations and did not target any third parties.
The drill, which began Sunday in Guangdong province and is expected to last until mid-July, aimed to demonstrate the navies’ capabilities to deal with security threats and safeguard global and regional peace and stability, state broadcaster CCTV reported Saturday, adding that it would include anti-missile drills, maritime strikes and air defense.
Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese and Russian naval forces conducted military simulation and tactical coordination exercises on maps after the opening ceremony in the city of Zhanjiang.
The joint exercises come in the wake of recent tensions between China and its NATO allies last week.
The final communiqué, drafted in strict terms and approved by NATO’s 32 members at their summit in Washington, made clear that China was becoming a target of the military alliance, calling Beijing a “decisive facilitator” of Russia’s war against Ukraine. European and North American members and their Indo-Pacific partners increasingly see the shared security concerns of Russia and its Asian backers, particularly China.
In response, China accused NATO of seeking security at the expense of other countries and urged the alliance not to cause the same “chaos” in Asia. Its foreign ministry said China’s position on the war in Ukraine was fair and objective.
Last week, a U.S. Coast Guard ship on routine patrol in the Bering Sea also encountered several Chinese military vessels in international waters but within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, U.S. officials said. Its crew detected three vessels about 125 miles (200 kilometers) north of Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands, which mark the separation and connection between the North Pacific and the Bering Sea.
Later, a fourth vessel was spotted about 135 kilometers north of Amukta Pass.
The US side said the Chinese warships were operating in accordance with international rules and norms.
