China-Russia sea drill starts after flotilla sails past Japan, South Korea and Philippines
- In joint warship patrol in lead-up to the drill, Chinese-Russian vessels practise ‘search and arrest’ in western and northern Pacific
China and Russia have started a joint drill in the South China Sea following an exercise that simulated the search and arrest of “suspicious vessels”.
It said after the opening ceremony on Sunday, that the two navies intended to carry out “on-map military simulation and tactical coordination” and discussion – something not mentioned in previous years.
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The announcement did not specify the scale of the drill or how long it would last but said it would include weapons training, search and rescue operations and defensive activities.
Another report by Xinhua said the maritime drills began on Monday.
The two countries have just wrapped up a separate exercise in which a flotilla practised shipborne helicopter landings on each other’s vessels and “search and arrest” operations, according to a WeChat post by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The flotilla sailed from the waters south of South Korea’s Jeju Island, passed by the Philippine Sea through Osumi Strait in northern Japan and entered the South China Sea through the Balintang Channel, a waterway that separates the Batanes and Babuyan Islands, both belonging to the Philippines.
The PLA said its destroyer Yinchuan, the frigate Hengshui and the replenishment ship Weishanhu, along with the Russian corvette Sovershenny, arrived in the South China Sea on Sunday.