China and Russia will hold their next joint naval exercise, “Joint Sea 2025,” in August, and their sixth coordinated maritime patrol in the Pacific, a press release by China’s Ministry of National Defence reported.
The exercises will be conducted in the sea and skies off Vladivostok, a Russian coastal city in the nation’s far east along the Sea of Japan. Some of the forces taking part in the exercise will also participate in a joint patrol of designated ocean areas later, defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said on Wednesday.
Zhang pointed out that this exercise is one of the two countries’ yearly military cooperation plan. “It is not against any third party and has no connection with the present international or regional situation,” he told a monthly briefing in Beijing. No dates or numbers of troops and equipment were announced, though.
The news breaks as the United States is hosting its biggest regional war exercise “Resolute Force Pacific 2025” that kicked off on July 10 and ends on August 8. Conducted in multiple venues such as Hawaii, Guam, Japan, and nearby international airspace, the exercise features more than 400 aircraft and 12,000 troops of the US and allied nations like Japan and Australia.
To counter the US-led exercises, Zhang blamed Washington for adopting a Cold War mentality and resorting to military drills as a display of power to intimidate and coerce others. “The US persists in showing off its muscles in the Asia-Pacific under the guise of combined drills, weakening regional peace and stability,” Zhang added.
The military ties between Russia and China have greatly increased in the past few years, with their joint naval exercises being at the forefront of their developing strategic relationship. The Joint Sea 2025 is to be the 11th exercise in the series otherwise referred to as “Maritime Cooperation” that started back in 2012 and has been held every year since, except in 2018, 2020, and 2023.
Earlier drills have primarily occurred in the northwestern Pacific such as the Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, and East China Sea but extended into the Baltic and Mediterranean Seas on a few occasions. The drills normally involve warships, aircraft, and supporting units of both countries conducting formation sailing, search and rescue, air defense, anti-submarine warfare, and live firing. Interoperability demonstrations are also included.
Apart from the Joint Sea series, China and Russia also launched in 2023 under the PLA Northern Theatre Command the “Northern Cooperation” exercise. No Joint Sea drill was conducted that year, but both exercises resumed in 2024.
The two countries also commenced routine bilateral naval patrols in the Pacific in 2021. These patrols, sometimes scheduled prior or subsequent to combined drills, were conducted twice during 2024 in July and September involving PLA vessels of the Southern and Northern Theatre Commands.
