China, Russia set to launch joint naval drills in East Sea

China and Russia launched joint naval drills on Thursday in the northern part of the East Sea, the body of water between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, according to China's state media.

The nine-day drills, the second joint naval exercise between China and Russia this year, are a result of the nations deepening cooperation in the military and security fields.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin have held frequent summits. Xi attended a military parade in Moscow in May marking the end of World War II, while Western leaders shunned the event amid tensions over Russia's role in the conflict in Ukraine.

China's defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said on July 31 that the drills will be held in the Peter the Great Gulf and areas off the coast of the Clerk Cape, as well as in the airspace above and waters of the East Sea.

The Peter the Great Gulf is the biggest gulf of the East Sea and is close to the borders of North Korea, China and Russia.

China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday that the drills will focus on improving "anti-submarine combat and air defense and other relevant missions. A joint beach landing of troops is also planned."

The drills will also involve about seven Chinese warships, aircraft and helicopters, as well as some 200 marines, according to a Chinese media report.

Russia's military will send 16 ships, two submarines, 12 naval aircraft, nine amphibious vehicles and 200 marines.

A state-run newspaper published by China's Communist Party indicated that Beijing and Moscow are intensifying military cooperation at a time when the United States is engaged in a "pivot" to Asia.

"Washington and Tokyo are both calculating with their alliance, while another ally of the U.S., South Korea, is hoping to be more neutral in the international arena," the Global Times newspaper said in an editorial about the drills.

"The military and political situation in East Asia is still a blur. Some worry that the enhanced U.S. presence in the Asia-Pacific region has piled pressure on both Beijing and Moscow,"

it said. "It is undeniable that the biggest motivating factor that makes China and Russia continue to come closer militarily is the performance of the U.S.-Japan alliance." (Yonhap)

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