Seoul, South Korea CNN —
China and Russia will begin a week-long joint live-fire naval exercise in the East China Sea on Wednesday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement, as the two partners step up cooperation in an increasingly tense western Pacific.
“The active part of the exercise will include joint missile and artillery fire on air targets, artillery fire on sea targets and practicing joint anti-submarine actions with practical use of weapons,” the Russian statement said.
The exercises, dubbed Maritime Cooperation 2022, will include the Russian Pacific Fleet’s flagship — the missile cruiser Varyag — a frigate and two corvettes, the statement said, adding that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy will provide two destroyers, two patrol ships and will dispatch a multipurpose support ship, and a diesel submarine.
Chinese planes would also take part, it said.
“The main purpose of the exercise is to strengthen naval cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China and to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region,” the statement said.
The Chinese military has not yet commented on the statement from Moscow.
China has so far refused to openly condemn Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine while it ramps up economic aid to its neighbor and boosts bilateral trade to record levels, a boon for Russian businesses amid Western sanctions.
The Russian announcement comes less than a week after Japan said it would increase its defense budget and acquire long-range weapons, citing increasing threats to Japan’s security environment.
China and Russia are among those threats, and the upcoming drills are the latest sign of increasing Sino-Russian cooperation around Japan, which has included joint aerial exercises near Japanese airspace and even circumnavigation of Japan’s main islands by a joint Sino-Russian flotilla 2021
In June, Tokyo said it had detected eight Russian and Chinese warships near its waters in a week.
Analysts noted at the time that China’s and Russia’s military activities worried Japan.
“Tracking the movements of both Russian and Chinese forces is draining the resources of the Japan Self-Defense Forces,” James Brown, associate professor of political science at Temple University in Tokyo, told CNN in June.