China, Russia to hold joint drills in South China Sea

FLEXING MUSCLES: Russian military ships and a submarine are seen moored at the Neva River in St.Petersburg, Russia in this July 26, 2015 file photo. (AP)

BEIJING: China and Russia will hold joint naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, Beijing’s Defense Ministry said Thursday, after an international tribunal invalidated the Asian giant’s extensive claims in the area.
The drills will be carried out in the “relevant sea and air of the South China Sea,” Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told reporters at a monthly briefing.
With international diplomatic tensions mounting and Washington regularly sending warships into the strategically vital area to assert the right to freedom of navigation, the move could see vessels from several of the world’s most powerful militaries in the same region at the same time.
The drills aimed to “consolidate and develop” China and Russia’s comprehensive strategic partnership, and “enhance the capabilities of the two navies to jointly deal with maritime security threats” Yang said.
The announcement comes after a tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that there was “no legal basis” to Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, embodied in a “nine-dash line” dating from Chinese maps of the 1940s and extending almost to the coasts of other countries, which have competing claims.
China has built a series of artificial islands on rocks and reefs in the area hosting facilities capable of supporting military operations, widely seen as an attempt to bolster its control of the waters.
The tribunal ruling — in a case brought by the Philippines — infuriated Beijing, which rejected it as “waste paper” and reiterated its right to declare an Air Defense Identification Zone controlling flights over the area.
China and Russia have close military and diplomatic ties, often in opposition to the West, particularly the United States, and their leaders Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin enjoy a tight relationship.
The two sides hold joint drills regularly “on land and sea,” Yang said, which “contribute to peace and stability.”
September’s exercise was “routine” and “does not target any third party,” he added.
Last August, the two powers — who were allies then rivals during the Soviet era — carried out military exercises in the waters and airspace of the Peter the Great Gulf, south of the Russian Pacific city of Vladivostok, involving 22 vessels, up to 20 aircraft and more than 500 marines.
In May last year, they conducted their first joint naval exercises in European waters in the Black Sea and Mediterranean, China’s farthest-ever drills from its home waters.