Beijing, Moscow start naval drills in S. China Sea

China's South Sea Fleet during a drill in the South China Sea in May. China and Russia will hold joint naval exercises in the South China Sea starting today.
China's South Sea Fleet during a drill in the South China Sea in May. China and Russia will hold joint naval exercises in the South China Sea starting today. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

BEIJING • China and Russia will hold eight days of naval drills in the South China Sea off southern China's Guangdong province starting today.

The exercises come at a time of heightened tension in the contested waters after an Arbitral Tribunal in The Hague ruled in July that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea and criticised its environmental destruction there.

China refused to participate in the case and rejected the ruling.

The "Joint Sea-2016" exercise will feature surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, ship-borne helicopters and marines, the Chinese Navy said in a statement yesterday on its official microblog.

The two countries will carry out defence, rescue and anti-submarine operations, as well as "island seizing" and other activities, it added.

Marines will participate in live- fire drills, island defence and landing operations in what will be the largest joint operation ever taken by the two countries' navies, the statement said.

China announced that it had called the "routine" naval exercise in July, saying the drills were aimed at strengthening cooperation and not aimed at any other country.

China and Russia are veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council, and have held similar views on many major issues, such as the crisis in Syria, often putting them at odds with the US and Western Europe.

Last year, they held joint military drills in the Sea of Japan and the Mediterranean.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than US$5 trillion (S$6.8 trillion) of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.

China has repeatedly blamed the United States for stoking tension in the region through its military patrols, and of taking sides in the territorial dispute.

The US has sought to assert its right to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea with its patrols and denies taking sides in the territorial disputes.

Russia has been a strong backer of China's stance on the arbitration case, which was brought by the Philippines.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 12, 2016, with the headline Beijing, Moscow start naval drills in S. China Sea. Subscribe