China-Russia sea drill starts after flotilla sails past Japan, South Korea and Philippines
The two countries have just wrapped up a separate exercise in which a flotilla practised shipborne helicopter landings on each other’s vessels and “search and arrest” operations, according to a WeChat post by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The flotilla sailed from the waters south of South Korea’s Jeju Island, passed by the Philippine Sea through Osumi Strait in northern Japan and entered the South China Sea through the Balintang Channel, a waterway that separates the Batanes and Babuyan Islands, both belonging to the Philippines.
The PLA said its destroyer Yinchuan, the frigate Hengshui and the replenishment ship Weishanhu, along with the Russian corvette Sovershenny, arrived in the South China Sea on Sunday.
Each navy sent a shipborne helicopter and a special operation unit in addition to the vessels, the post said. Pictures posted to WeChat revealed speedboats from both sides were also involved.
The Chinese and Russian navies simulated a situation using the Hengshui frigate as a “suspicious vessel”, which they stopped and searched when they were in the Philippine Sea, Russian state-owned Sputnik News reported on Wednesday.
“Helicopters carried by the destroyer Yinchuan and corvette Sovershenny took off to provide air support,” according to Sputnik, which said the captain of the ship was “arrested after weapons were found on the ship” in the drill.
While the PLA said the joint maritime patrol “was not targeted at third parties or related to current international and regional situations”, it took place at a time when disputes between China and the Philippines have escalated.
Washington has strengthened its alliances in the region with nations that perceive increasing challenges from China’s military build-up and manoeuvres.
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