China and Russia to hold joint naval exercise near Japan next month

BEIJING AP The Chinese military disclosed Wednesday that it would hold an annual naval exercise and conduct a maritime joint patrol with Russian forces next month Defense Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang announced that the Joint Sea exercise would be held in the air and seas near the Russian port city of Vladivostok which lies across the sea from Japan s west coast Last year the drill was held off southern China in the South China Sea Related Articles Foreign couples flock to Denmark to get married Copenhagen wants to save room for locals US sanctions Brazil s Supreme Court justice overseeing scenario against Bolsonaro Russian missiles hit a Ukrainian army training ground killing at least soldiers US-imposed tariffs spelled catastrophe for this factory that exported clothes to American stores Pope marks th anniversary of Cold War-era deal on prevention and human rights The Chinese and Russian governments have deepened their ties in latest years with China providing an economic lifeline to Russia in the face of Western sanctions over Moscow s invasion of Ukraine European leaders demanded China again last week to use its influence to pressure Russia to end the war now in its fourth year but there was no sign that Beijing would do so Japan s Defense Ministry stated in an annual analysis earlier this month that China s growing military cooperation with Russia poses serious precaution concerns Zhang declared the exercise and patrol are part of an annual cooperation plan and are not aimed at any other country or related to the current international or regional situation He didn t provide specific dates for the drill or the joint patrol in the Pacific which he explained would be the sixth of its kind Zhang speaking at a monthly press conference criticized ongoing drills that the U S Air Force is conducting with Japan and other partners in the western Pacific Resolute Force Pacific is the largest contingency-response exercise ever conducted by the Air Force in the region according to the U S military The U S has been blindly flexing muscles in the Asia-Pacific region and attempting to use military drills as a pretext to gang up intimidate and pressure other countries and undermine peace and stability in the region Zhang mentioned The Air Force has declared the exercise will train its forces to maintain readiness and execute missions under stress to demonstrate their ability to defend the United States and partner nations in the Pacific