China says conducting joint military drills with Russia

BEIJING: China said on Friday it was conducting joint military drills with Russia along its southern coast, after a US-led Western defence alliance met in Washington and Japan warned of a growing threat from Beijing´s strong ties with Moscow.

Beijing rejected the warnings as “irresponsible and provocative,” hours after China´s defence ministry said the two militaries had begun the exercises -- called Joint Sea-2024 -- in “early July,” lasting until the middle of this month.

The drills in the waters and airspace around Zhanjiang, a city in southern Guangdong province, are “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.

They were taking place in accordance with Beijing and Moscow´s annual plan for military engagement, according to the ministry.

The announcement came in the same week that Nato leaders convened in Washington to reaffirm support for Ukraine amid Russia´s invasion.

China and Russia have drawn closer in recent years and tout their friendship as having “no limits”, and both share hostile relations with Nato.

NATO leaders said in a declaration on Wednesday that China had “become a decisive enabler” of Moscow´s invasion of Ukraine, prompting Beijing to warn Nato against “provoking confrontation”.

Beijing “strongly condemns the irresponsible and provocative remarks made by the Nato Secretary General against China, which are steeped in Cold War mentality and ideological bias, and consist of baseless accusations,” a foreign ministry spokesman said Friday, according to Xinhua.