China and Russia hold drills as Japan and Nato raise alarm over Ukraine

Joint exercises are announced after Nato calls Beijing an ‘enabler’ of Russia’s war while Tokyo warns of spillover from conflict

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Chinese and Russian marines hug during a joint naval drill in Zhanjiang in Guangdong province in September 2016. The two countries are holding their first joint military exercises near the southern Chinese city since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. Photo: Xinhua

Cyril Ip

Published: 3:16pm, 13 Jul 2024Updated: 7:05pm, 13 Jul 2024

China has announced it is holding military drills with Russia along its southern coast – just days after Nato leaders labelled Beijing a “decisive enabler” of the two-year war in Ukraine.

China’s defence ministry said on Friday that Russian vessels arrived in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, that day for the “Joint Sea-2024” exercises in the waters and airspace around the city until the middle of the month.

“The joint exercise aims to demonstrate the resolve and capabilities of the two sides in jointly addressing maritime security threats and preserving global and regional peace and stability,” the ministry said on Friday, adding that it would “further deepen the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era”.

The corvettes Gromky and Rezky from the Russian navy’s Pacific Fleet left the port of Vladivostok for the drills, Reuters reported on Monday.

The drills are the first the two countries have held in Zhanjiang, a prefecture-level city on a South China Sea inlet, since the Ukraine war began in February 2022. The last time China and Russia conducted exercises in the area was in 2016.

The news came a day after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi hit out at leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation for making “groundless accusations” against China, warning the military alliance to avoid “inciting confrontation” with his country over “different political systems and values”.

During a meeting in Washington earlier this week, the 32 Nato members called on Beijing to “cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort”.