Advertisement
Advertisement
South China Sea
Get more with myNEWS
A personalised news feed of stories that matter to you
Learn more

Sino-Russian drill seen as tactical move

A large Sino-Russian military drill beginning this weekend is an attempt to show that Beijing and Moscow can form a united front when their core interests are threatened, as well as a response to US-Philippine manoeuvres in the disputed South China Sea, analysts say.

The Sino-Russian exercise, to be held from Sunday to Friday in the Yellow Sea near Qingdao, Shandong province, will focus on joint maritime defence and the protection of navigation rights and will involve 16 vessels, including destroyers, frigates, support and hospital ships, as well as two submarines, the Ministry of National Defence said.

Four warships from Russia's Pacific Fleet left Vladivostok for the drill on Sunday, along with vessels, warplanes, helicopters and marines.

Analysts say the drill is the largest the two countries have staged since starting annual exercises in 2005 under the umbrella of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, and that the timing means Beijing wants to show its military muscle to Japan, the US and claimants to territory in the South China Sea. Moscow, they say, wants to enhance its bargaining power with Tokyo over a territorial dispute in the South Kuril Islands.

The joint exercise also comes as a dispute between Beijing and Tokyo over the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea threatens to escalate after Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara said talks were under way for the city to buy some of the disputed islets from private owners.

China and Russia signed a memorandum on staging maritime drills in August, but the dates for the drill were only announced on Tuesday.

Qian Lihua, director general of the defence ministry's foreign affairs office, said on Tuesday the military drill was a 'normal arrangement' aimed at boosting the two sides' capability to handle new regional threats. It was announced, however, a day after the US and the Philippines began joint military exercises and with Chinese and Philippine forces involved in a stand-off at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea.

Deputy Foreign Minister Fu Ying met Philippine embassy officials in Beijing yesterday for talks on the standoff, according to the foreign ministry. 'Beijing believes it is necessary to take some concrete measures to show its frustration at the aggressive moves by Washington and Manila,' said Shanghai-based military analyst Ni Lexiong . 'With Washington and Manila having a joint exercise, Beijing wants to do the same thing with Moscow.'

Li Xing , a Russian affairs expert at Beijing Normal University, said the drill may not be directly related to US-Philippine moves, however, as China and Russia have been strengthening security co-operation in recent years. 'The tightened military co-operation between China and Russia conveys a message that both countries are determined to take action when their core interests are undermined.'

Ni, though, said the drill would not do much to relieve tensions between the two countries, and he questioned whether Russia could be relied on to support China in territorial disputes, given that the Russian gas company Gazprom has signed a deal with PetroVietnam to jointly explore two oil and gas blocks in the South China Sea.

Post