China and Russia conducted joint military drills in 2022 on a larger scale than they did two decades ago, according to a Bloomberg report on July 15, raising concerns about a potential escalation of tensions.
The number represented two-thirds of China’s total military drills with foreign armed forces in 2022, mostly taking place after Russia launched a full-fledged war on Ukraine.
Two of these joint drills involved the armed forces of Syria and Iran, according to the report.
On July 16, China’s Defense Ministry stated that a Chinese naval flotilla made up of five warships and four ship-borne helicopters departed to join Russian naval and air forces in the Sea of Japan for military drills.
Two Russian warships taking part in the drill had earlier this month conducted separate training with the Chinese navy in Shanghai on formation movements, communication, and sea rescues.
Before making port at the financial hub of Shanghai, the same ships had sailed past Taiwan and Japan, prompting both Taipei and Tokyo to monitor the Russian warships.
‘A New Era of Crisis’
Japan had expressed alarm over China’s military cooperation with Russia in its draft annual defense report, claiming that Beijing and Moscow carried out five joint bomber flights near the country since 2019.“Russia appears to have suffered substantial damage to its conventional military forces, raising the possibility that its national strength may decline over the medium to long term and the military balance with neighboring countries may change,” it reads.
According to their joint statement, Russia will recognize Taiwan as “an inalienable part of China” and reject Taiwan’s independence “in any form,” while the CCP backs Russia’s opposition to the enlargement of NATO.
“Competition with China is unique in its scale, and that it really, you know, unfolds over just about every domain, not just military, and ideological, but economic, technological, everything from cyberspace, to space itself as well,” he said at an event at Georgetown University in Washington.