China had on Friday, announced that it was planning joint military drills with Russia along its southern coast.
This announcement is coming in the same week that NATO leaders convened in Washington to reaffirm their support for Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion.
China’s and Russia’s relationship have grown closer in recent years and both nations have said that their friendship had “no limits”. They both also share hostile relations with NATO.
NATO leaders had recently, said that China had “become a decisive enabler” of the Moscow invasion of Ukraine, issuing severe statements to Beijing, to warn NATO against “provoking confrontation”.
However China has debunked this, saying that it is not involved in the Ukraine conflict but the Asian country has been criticised by Western leaders for giving Russian political and economic support.
Japan has expressed worry over the China-Russia activities going on near its territory, saying that it was a matter of “grave concern from the perspective of national security”.
What They’re Saying
Meanwhile, China’s defence ministry issued a statement saying that the two militaries had begun the exercises, called Joint Sea-2024, in “early July” and they would last until the middle of this July.
The ministry also said that the drills in the waters and airspace around Zhanjiang, –a city located in southern Guangdong province— were “to demonstrate the resolve and capabilities of the two sides in jointly addressing maritime security threats and preserving global and regional peace and stability” and that the exercises “will further deepen the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era”.
Theses drills were taking place in conformity with Beijing and Moscow’s yearly plan for military engagement.
