Russia and China finish successful South China Sea joint naval exercise

18/7/2024 17:57

        Russian and Chinese ships
        have used joint naval exercises in the South China Sea this week
        to successfully rehearse anti-submarine operations, naval combat
        and providing air defence to vessels, Russia's TASS news agency
        reported on Thursday.
        
        TASS cited a statement from Russia's Pacific Fleet as saying
        that the drills - dubbed 'Maritime Cooperation 2024 - had now
        finished.
        
        The opening ceremony of the exercise took place in the
        Chinese port of Zhanjiang, the Russian defence ministry said
        earlier this week.
        
        Russia's Pacific Fleet was cited as saying that the two
        navies had carried out about 30 combat exercises, including
        joint artillery firing at sea, coastal and air targets, and
        joint search and rescue operations at sea.
        
        "Their main purpose was to strengthen naval cooperation
        between the Russian Federation and the People's Republic of
        China as well as to maintain peace and stability in the
        Asia-Pacific region," the Fleet was quoted as saying.
        
        The drills follow the completion of a separate joint naval
        patrol in the north Pacific, which the Russian defence ministry
        said earlier involved a detachment of Russia's Pacific Fleet
        ships, including two corvettes, the Rezky and the Gromky.
        
        China claims control over almost the entire South China Sea,
        including the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, where the
        Philippines maintains a rusty warship that it deliberately
        grounded in 1999 to reinforce its own maritime claims and has
        been central to a recent standoff between the two countries.
        
        The rising tensions have led U.S. officials to remind
        Beijing that their mutual defence treat obligations with the
        Philippines are ironclad.
        
        China and Russia declared a "no limits" partnership in 2022
        when President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing just days before
        he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine.