Just one day after Donald Trump moved US nuclear submarines closer to Russia in response to inflammatory comments from Russia’s former president Dmitry Medvedev, Russia and China have begun a series of mock combat drills and other war games in the Sea of Japan. Though pre-planned, these joint naval exercises are designed to signify the strength of the two major powers’ increasingly military ties.
The Joint Sea-2025 drills were launched in waters near to Vladivostok, Russia’s largest port on the Pacific Ocean, according to a statement from China’s Defence Ministry. Four Chinese vessels, including guided-missile destroyers Shaoxing and Urumqi, will be participating in the three-day exercises. This will include “submarine rescue, joint anti-submarine, air defence and anti-missile operations, and maritime combat”, followed by naval patrols in “relevant waters of the Pacific”. After the drills, the two countries will conduct naval patrols in “relevant waters of the Pacific”.
Announcing the drills on Wednesday (July 30), Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesman for Beijing’s defence ministry, criticised the US Air Force’s drills with Japan and others in the region: “The US has been blindly flexing its muscles in the Asia-Pacific region and attempting to use military drills as a pretext to gang up, intimidate and pressure other countries, and undermine peace and stability in the region”.
Shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, it signed a “no-limits” strategic partnership with China. These joint military exercises are regularly held to rehearse coordination between their armed forces and deter their enemies from launching an attack.
The two major powers have carried out annual drills for several years, with the “Joint Sea” exercises beginning in 2012. Last year’s drills were held along China’s southern coast.
With this year’s drills in the Sea of Japan, Japan’s Ministry of Defence warned in its annual report last month that China’s growing military cooperation with Russia poses serious security concerns. Though Russia and China have both said that no third country is being targeted by their military cooperation, Japan has still objected to the drills.
China has never denounced Russia’s over three-year war in Ukraine, nor called for it to withdraw its troops. In fact, many of Ukraine’s allies, including the US, believe that Beijing has provided support to Moscow.
European leaders asked China last month to use its influence to pressure Russia to end the war, but there was no sign that Beijing would do so thus far. China, however, insists it is a neutral party, regularly calling for an end to the fighting while also accusing Western countries of prolonging the conflict by arming Ukraine.
In the past decade, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping have met more than 40 times. The Chinese president has met him more than twice as many times as any other world leader since he assumed the role in 2012.