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Minnie Chan

China and Russia have worked together to destroy a “hostile submarine” during a joint drill in the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, according to the Russian defence ministry.
The exercise was part of the week-long Vostok 2022 war games led by Russia that ended on Wednesday. More than 50,000 troops are taking part from over a dozen nations in the region including China, India, Belarus, Mongolia and Tajikistan.
During the naval drill, crews from the Russian and Chinese flotillas hunted the “enemy submarine”, state news agency Sputnik reported, citing a Russian defence ministry report released on Sunday.
It said a Russian Ka-27PL anti-submarine warfare helicopter detected signs of a suspicious target and a simulated attack was then carried out.


Lu Li-shih, a former instructor with the Taiwanese Naval Academy in Kaohsiung, said China and Russia were drawing closer as both nations came under more pressure from the United States.
Tensions have escalated between Beijing and Washington since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei last month, while Russia’s relations with the US are also tense over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
But Lu said the military cooperation might have been a “struggle”, noting that a Russian electronic warfare ship had taken part in the Vostok drills and may have made the People’s Liberation Army “uncomfortable”.
“Russia deployed its missile range tracking ship Marshal Krylov as the command ship this time, which would have caused the PLA’s most advanced destroyer, the [Nanchang] Type 055, to be more vigilant,” Lu said, referring to the Nanchang’s use of radar systems and other hi-tech devices.
He said it was possible the Russian warship could have collected “data or valuable information” from the Chinese destroyer.
Macau-based military observer Antony Wong Tong also said military ties between Beijing and Moscow might not be as close as they seem.
“This sort of joint exercise can’t be defined as a practical joint naval operation – the PLA fleet and the Russians are not carrying out any real joint operations,” he said.
Video clips from the Vostok war games aired on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV on Sunday showed the two navies conducting simultaneous drills, with helicopters landing on the decks of each other’s warships and missiles being launched.
But Wong said there had been “limited interaction” between the PLA and Russia’s military. “So it’s hard for the two sides to develop tacit understanding … and it suggests the Vostok exercises are still a far cry from the US-led Rim of the Pacific Exercise,” he said.
As well as the Nanchang destroyer, the PLA also sent its Yancheng Type 054A frigate and the Dongpinghu Type 903 supply ship to join the Vostok war games – and more than 2,000 personnel from the Northern Theatre Command.

Days before the naval joint drill, the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force said a Chinese Type 815A electronic surveillance ship had passed through the Miyako Strait on August 28, on its way to the western Pacific Ocean.
The Chinese and Russian fleets are also making their way to the western Pacific to escape an approaching typhoon, and Lu said they might conduct a joint passage through Japanese islands as they did last year.
After an anti-submarine exercise, the Chinese and Russian navies in October sailed through the Tsugaru Strait – which separates the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido from the Sea of Japan – in what was seen as a move to push back against pressure from the US and its allies.
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin watched an exercise at a training ground in the country’s far east, according to Russian state news agency TASS. It said Putin had met military officials and would attend the final stage of the war games on Wednesday.


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China, Russia destroy ‘hostile submarine’ in Sea of Japan joint drill

Russian Navy sailors prepare a helicopter to take off from the anti-submarine ship Marshal Shaposhnikov during the Vostok 2022 war games near Vladivostok on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

A Russian missile boat releases a smoke screen during Vostok 2022 on Monday. More than a dozen nations are taking part in the war games. Photo: EPA-EFE

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A Russian anti-submarine ship takes part in the Vostok 2022 strategic command and staff exercise in the Sea of Japan near Vladivostok on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE

A Russian anti-submarine ship takes part in the Vostok 2022 drills on Monday.  Japan’s Defence Ministry said it had spotted six Russian and Chinese warships firing machine guns into the Sea of Japan off Hokkaido over the weekend. Photo: EPA-EFE

Chinese troops march during the Vostok 2022 military exercises at a firing range in Russia’s far east on August 31. Photo: Russian Defence Ministry Press Service via AP

The town of Kurilsk on the island of Iturup in the Kuril Islands. Photo: AFP

China joins Russian-led drills in Sea of Japan amid tensions with Tokyo

The 12,000-tonne Nanchang is China’s largest destroyer. Photo: Reuters

The PLA’s Type 054A frigate Yancheng and a Russian Visby-class corvette conduct drills in the Sea of Japan on Saturday. Photo: Japan Ministry of Defence

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Chinese troops parade ahead of the Vostok military exercises in the east of Russia. Photo: AP

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Diplomacy

Simulated attack was carried out as part of the week-long Vostok 2022 war games, according to Russian defence ministry
But analysts say cooperation between the two militaries may have been a ‘struggle’ and no real joint operations were conducted


Simulated attack was part of the week-long Vostok 2022 war games, according to Russian defence ministry.


China-Russia relations