American defense treaty allies South Korea and Japan scrambled fighter jets on Thursday in response to long-range air patrols by Chinese and Russian strategic bombers, their militaries said.
The warplane formations merged in the Sea of Japan, or what both Koreas call the East Sea, before carrying out the joint exercise in South Korea's air defense identification zone within international airspace, according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The Defense Ministry in Tokyo published a map of the flight paths through Northeast Asia, and said the Japan Air Self-Defense Force launched fighter aircraft to monitor and photograph the movements.
The joint patrols featuring strategic assets from the Russian Air Force and the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force were the seventh of their kind and the second such exercise this year following similar sorties in June.
It was a sign of growing security collaboration between Moscow and Beijing, two quasi-allies who have found themselves in direct strategic and ideological confrontations with the West in general and the United States in particular.
Images released by the Joint Staff of Japan's Defense Ministry captured what Tokyo said were a pair of Russian Tu-95 and a pair of Chinese H-6 nuclear-capable bombers, which flew from the Sea of Japan into the East China Sea via the Tsushima Strait, known as the Eastern Channel in Seoul.
The long-range missile platforms—either Soviet-built or based on Soviet design—were accompanied by a maritime reconnaissance aircraft from each country, Russia's Tu-142 and China's Y-8, according to Tokyo.
Additional images suggested the Russian and Chinese air forces sent Su-35 and J-16 fighter jets as escorts.
Seoul's military said it had lodged a protest with Beijing via a direct military line over the "incursion" into its air defense zone. It had no means of doing the same with Moscow, said South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.
The flights took place in international airspace but were nonetheless a pointed display at the U.S. and its Asian allies.
Russia's Defense Ministry said on Thursday that the exercise was a demonstration of collective military strength. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said the activities were "routine and conventional" and consistent with international law.
An analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, D.C., published in June 2022, said the Russia-China joint patrols serve multiple purposes, from gaining operational knowledge and countering perceived threats to safeguarding strategic waterways.
Strategic ties between Russia and China are growing, largely thanks to a strong personal relationship between President Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, who have backed one another's legitimacy despite intense international pressure over their respective military buildups and repressive rights records at home.
And in spite of increasingly imbalanced economic ties leaning heavily in China's favor, the partnership appears only to have grown since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine 21 months ago, continuing a trend that began when Putin annexed Crimea in 2014—a move that did not draw condemnation from Beijing.
In the years since, Moscow has slowly loosened its restrictions on Russia's defense industry exports to China, increasing the quantity and quality of arms sales as well as the frequency of joint military exercises.
China's acquisitions have included advanced fighter aircraft and missile systems, providing a large market for Russia's defense industry.
In Ukraine, Chinese-made components are finding their way into Russian hardware including killer drones, with Russia's sanctioned manufacturers turning to their neighbors as alternative sources for Western equipment.
Bejing has not directly transferred any military hardware to Moscow for use on the battlefield, but it has been the Kremlin's main economic lifeline, playing a significant role in helping Putin maintain political stability at a time of international isolation.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aadil Brar is a reporter for Newsweek based in Taipei, Taiwan. He covers international security, U.S.-China relations, and East Asian ... Read more
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