BEIJING: China said Friday it was holding joint military exercises with Russia along its southern coast, following a US-led Western defense alliance met in Washington and Japan warned of an increasing threat from Beijing’s strong relations with Moscow.
China’s ministry for defense announced that the two sides had started the exercises, called Joint Sea-2024, in “early July” and they would last until the middle of the current month. The military drills in the waters and airspace around Zhanjiang, are “to show the resolve and capabilities of the two countries in jointly addressing maritime security challenges, threats and preserving international and regional peace and stability,” the ministry stated.
It said that the military exercises “will further deepen China-Russia strategic partnership of coordination for the new era.”
The ministry said that the exercises were taking place in accordance with Moscow and Beijing’s annual plan for military engagement.
The development came in the same week that NATO leaders also convened in Washington to reaffirm support for Kyiv amid Russia’s invasion.
NATO leaders said in a declaration on Wednesday that Beijing had “become a decisive enabler” of Russia’s invasion of Kyiv, prompting China to warn NATO against “provoking confrontation.”
Beijing maintains that it is not a party to the Ukraine war but has been criticized by West for giving political and economic support to Moscow, including in the trade of goods with both military and civilian uses.
