China, Russia begin naval drills in waters near Taiwan, Japan
- Exercise is being held off Zhejiang in the East China Sea – the closest it’s been held to the Taiwan Strait, and also close to Japanese waters
- Analysts say the week-long annual war games aim to send a message to Taipei, as well as to Tokyo over its new security strategy
China’s defence ministry said the exercise, known as Joint Sea 2022, would be held in waters off the coast of eastern Zhejiang province. The area spans from Zhoushan to Taizhou, which is about 350km (about 200 miles) from the Taiwan Strait.
China has sent five warships – two destroyers, two frigates and a supply ship – and a submarine, as well as early warning aircraft, an anti-submarine patrol plane and ship-borne helicopters to take part in this week’s drills, according to a report in military mouthpiece PLA Daily on Wednesday.
“The Marshal Shaposhnikov is the largest and most powerful anti-submarine destroyer in the Russian navy, meaning anti-submarine exercises will be a key part of the drills,” according to Beijing-based naval expert Li Jie.
Li said that could be a response to Taiwan’s indigenous submarine programme, noting that the exterior of the first vessel in the fleet appeared to resemble the design of Japan’s Soryu-class submarine, according to openly available information.