Moscow/Beijing, August 3: China and Russia began joint naval exercises in the Sea of Japan on Sunday, marking a deepening of military cooperation between the two strategic partners at a time of heightened tensions with the West.
Dubbed Joint Sea-2025 or Maritime Interaction-2025, the three-day drills are being held near the Russian port of Vladivostok. The exercises are the latest in a series of annual military collaborations between the two countries that began in 2012, with last year’s iteration taking place off China’s southern coast.
China’s Defence Ministry said the exercises will include submarine rescue operations, anti-submarine warfare, artillery firing, air defence and anti-missile drills, maritime combat, and search and rescue missions. Participating forces include four Chinese vessels – notably the guided-missile destroyers Shaoxing and Urumqi – along with Russian anti-submarine ships and diesel-electric submarines. Following the drills, the two navies plan to conduct joint patrols in Pacific waters.
“The exercise is defensive in nature and is not directed against other countries,” Russia’s Pacific Fleet said, according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
The drills were scheduled before U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday that he had ordered two U.S. nuclear submarines into “appropriate regions” in response to “highly provocative” remarks by former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who warned of the growing risk of conflict between nuclear powers.
Russia and China declared a “no-limits” partnership in early 2022, just before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Since then, Beijing has provided an economic lifeline to Russia amid sweeping Western sanctions, while refusing to condemn the war or call for a Russian withdrawal.
China insists it remains a neutral actor in the conflict and has repeatedly called for a ceasefire. However, it accuses Western governments of prolonging the war by supplying weapons to Kyiv.
“The exercises aim to further deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership,” China’s Defence Ministry said.
Japan has expressed concern over the drills, with its Defence Ministry warning last month that intensifying military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow poses significant security challenges in the region.
European leaders also recently urged China to use its influence to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine, now entering its fourth year. Beijing, however, has shown little sign of altering its stance.
