Russia and China are to conduct shared naval patrols in the Asia-Pacific region following a lengthy series of naval exercises in the Sea of Japan. The joint operations, with ships from both the Russian Pacific Fleet and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, illustrate the increasing degree of military coordination between the two states amid augmented United States military presence in the region. The newly constituted task group will conduct patrols after completing resupply missions and is part of a series of exercises and maritime affairs, which aim at promoting maritime interoperability and taking operations to the next level of strategic deterrent capability.
This announcement occurred as Beijing is swiftly developing its naval forces to create a blue-water navy to ensure global power projection. The recent five-day joint exercises contained a live-fire exercise, anti-submarine and air defence operations which show they are becoming operationally integrated. In fact, these operations serve the larger aims of the “no-limits” partnership created just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Although they are labeled as defensive, these patrols send a clear geopolitical signal to challenge the West and establish a new multipolar security order in the Indo-Pacific.
