Visit by Russian navy chief to submarine academy and Chinese shipyard deemed a sign of military ties getting stronger

Nikolai Yevmenov this week discussed naval cooperation with China’s defence minister, met commander of the PLA Navy and viewed China’s latest ships
‘Even the most radical supporters of Russia’s alliance with China would not favour Russia’s military involvement in Taiwan,’ says Vladivostok academic

China’s military

Jack Lau

Published: 12:00pm, 8 Jul 2023

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A high-profile visit to China by the Russian navy chief Nikolai Yevmenov this week was another display of military cooperation between the “comprehensive strategic partners”, analysts said, which promised mutual support for each other’s core interests.

After the Russian admiral discussed naval cooperation with Chinese Defence Minister General Li Shangfu in Beijing on Monday, he met the commander of the Chinese navy and visited a major shipyard in Shanghai, Moscow’s defence ministry said.

Yevmenov, a submarine expert who became Russia’s top naval officer in 2019, saw the Chinese navy’s latest ships and submarines and visited the Navy Submarine Academy in Qingdao, where he learned about its cadet programme.

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Yevmenov’s visit was partly intended to show off the partnership between the countries but trips to military facilities also indicated the more practical aspects of cooperation, said Artyom Lukin, deputy director for research at the regional and international studies school at Far Eastern Federal University in Vladivostok.

Lukin said that while their military cooperation remained limited to regular joint exercises and strategic discussions, a far cry from those staged in the Asia-Pacific between the US and its allies, they should not be dismissed.

“The visible part of the Russia-China military cooperation has not increased since the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine,” he said. “But something might be going on behind the scenes, under the radar.”

Two Russian warships, RFS Sovershenniy (333) and RFS Gromkiy (335), arrived at Shanghai port last week for a friendly visit, the seventh by Russia’s naval ships to Shanghai. Photo: CCTV

A week before the visit, the Russian corvettes Gromkiy and Sovershenniy sailed north then south along Taiwan’s east coast from June 27 to 29, according to the Japanese defence ministry, apparently on their way home from the Komodo multinational military exercises in Indonesia. It is rare for Russian military ships to sail close to Taiwan.

Beijing did not issue a statement on foreign warships travelling close to the island it claims as its territory. Instead, Chinese sailors on Wednesday welcomed the ships in a ceremony in Shanghai, where the Russian warships made a port call to take part in fleet formation, communication and sea rescue joint training.

Xiao Bin, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Science’s Institute of Russian, East European and Central Asian Studies, dismissed the idea that Russia could help Beijing take control of Taiwan because Beijing had repeatedly said it could resolve the issue and did not need foreign powers to intervene.

“It is more likely that the Russian ships were acting on their own initiative and wanted to show political support for China or win China’s support for Russia,” he said. “It’s using a military operation to express a political stand.”

Beijing sees the self-ruled island as a breakaway province to be united with the mainland, by force if necessary. Most countries do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but many oppose any attempt to take it with force.

Lukin said Russia would not, for now, wage war on behalf of Beijing over Taiwan.

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“How could [Russia] do this if China does not even acknowledge Crimea as part of Russian sovereign territory?” he said. “Even the most radical supporters of Russia’s alliance with China would not favour Russia’s military involvement in Taiwan.”

China has remained silent on whether Crimea and the four other Ukrainian regions Russia annexed – Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia – belong to Russia and, when asked about its position, has repeatedly said it respected the sovereignty of all countries.

But Lukin said he would not rule out Moscow supporting Beijing diplomatically, sharing reconnaissance data or giving Beijing listening stations in the Russian Far East and the Arctic.

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Xiao said that allowing Yevmenov to see the Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard and its new ships and submarines showed a high level of trust between the Chinese and Russian militaries.

The expanding shipyard has produced Type 054 frigates, Type 075 amphibious assault ships and Type 071 amphibious transport dock ships for China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Xiao said military diplomacy between the countries aimed to follow up on talks between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in March, when they announced they would deepen their “comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination” – a designation that puts Russia above all of China’s other diplomatic ties.

“The military cooperation has always been centred around joint exercises and training,” he said. “We could see new items of training, but China and Russia have been doing that for a long time. It’s just that these joint operations are more eye-catching in light of joint drills by Japan, South Korea and the United States in the Asia-Pacific.”

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On Monday, Beijing’s Defence Minister Li told Yevmenov he hoped China and Russia could organise regular joint exercises, patrols and competitions and improve communication on all levels, the Chinese defence ministry said in a statement.

Japan sees growing cooperation between the Chinese and Russian militaries as a threat to its national security when joint exercises are staged nearby.

Japan and South Korea have previously scrambled jets in response to joint operations by the PLA and the Russian military.

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Lukin said Chinese-Russian drills could still develop some basic interoperability and allow intelligence sharing. China would be interested in getting information from Russia about how Nato weapons, such as drones, performed in the Black Sea, as well as Nato’s mode of operation.

On his visit, Yevmenov also met Admiral Dong Jun, commander of the Chinese navy.

In June, General Liu Zhenli, the head of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, China’s top military decision-making body, met his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov in a videoconference.