BEIJING: Russia and China’s naval forces on Sunday started a joint exercise at a military port in southern China, state-run news agency Xinhua reported, days following NATO allies called China a “decisive enabler” of the conflict in Ukraine.
The Chinese Defense Ministry stated in a brief statement that forces from both countries recently patrolled the western and northern Pacific Ocean and that the operation had nothing to do with global and regional situations and did not target any third party.
The drill, which started in Guangdong province on Sunday and is likely to last until mid-July, aimed to show the capabilities of the navies in addressing security challenges and preserving stability and peace regionally and internationally, CCTV reported, saying it would also include anti-missile drills, air defense and sea attacks.
According to Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese and Russian naval troops carried out on-map military simulation and tactical coordination drills following the opening ceremony in Zhanjiang. The joint military drills came on the heels of Beijing’s latest tensions with NATO countries last week.
The severely worded final communiqué, adopted by the 32 NATO nations at their summit in Washington, made clear that Beijing is becoming a focus of the military alliance, calling China a “decisive enabler” of Moscow’s war against Kyiv. The European and North American members and their allies in the Indo-Pacific see shared security concerns coming from Moscow and its Asian supporters, especially Beijing.
In response, Beijing accused NATO of seeking security at the expense of others and told the defense alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia. Chinese Foreign Ministry said that Beijing has a fair and objective position on the war in Ukraine.
