Beijing and Moscow began a series of joint military exercises in the East China Sea on Wednesday, according to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) newspaper.
The exercises, called “Naval Interaction” and which have been carried out annually since 2012, will last until December 27.
An opening ceremony was held in the afternoon on the first day, in an unspecified area of the East China Sea, with the participation of the Chinese destroyer ‘Jinan’ and the Russian missile cruiser ‘Varyag’, the newspaper said.
In a speech, the Chinese person in charge of the exercises, Wang Yu, stressed the strengthening of the “comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination between China and Russia” and the “friendly cooperation” between the armed forces of the two countries, under the ” personal leadership” of Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
The speech was followed by training and communication exercises, as well as safety drills related to helicopter operations, the military newspaper reported.
On the Chinese side, the destroyer ‘Baotou’, the missile-launching frigates ‘Binzhou’ and ‘Yancheng’, submarines and airborne radar systems will participate in these exercises. Russia will also use the ‘Marshal Shaposhnikov’ frigate and two corvettes.
The exercises take place in the waters of the cities of Zhoushan and Taizhou, in Zhejiang province, about 500 kilometers off the north coast of Taiwan.
In a statement, China’s Defense Ministry explained this week that the purpose of the exercises is to “demonstrate the determination and ability of the two sides to jointly respond to threats to maritime security and maintain peace and stability.” international and regional.
On Wednesday, Xi Jinping met with former Russian leader Dmitri Medvedev in Beijing and called for moderation and dialogue in the Ukraine conflict.
Xi stressed that China has “always maintained an objective and fair position” regarding the war in Ukraine and “promoted peace talks.”
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, China has maintained an ambiguous position, calling for respect for “the territorial integrity of all countries,” including Ukraine, and for the “legitimate concerns of all countries,” referring to Russia.
In February, just before the start of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian and Chinese leaders in Beijing proclaimed “unlimited friendship” between the two nations.
Source: TSF
