China and Russia have commenced military drills shortly after NATO denounced Beijing for playing a major role in the Ukraine War.

In an official announcement on July 12, the Chinese Defense Ministry said the Joint Sea-2024 exercise was being held in the waters and airspace next to Zhanjiang, in Guangdong Province of south China. It further noted that the exercise was being conducted according to the bilateral agreement between the armed forces and the annual military engagement plan.

Zhang Xiaogang, spokesperson for China’s Defense Ministry, said, “The ongoing exercise is to demonstrate the resolve and capabilities of the two sides in jointly addressing maritime security threats and preserving global and regional peace and stability.”

This new round of naval exercises “will further deepen China-Russia’s comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination in the new era,” Zhang said. According to Chinese state media, supplies, guided missile frigates, and guided missile destroyers had assembled on China’s southern coast to participate in the exercise.

Some see the combined drills as a reaction to the growing US military presence in the region but they demonstrate China and Russia’s strategic relationship.

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Though the two partners regularly hold military drills together, the Joint Sea-2024 is significant as it follows NATO’s rebuke of China’s alleged military support to Russia in its war against Ukraine. In the recently held NATO summit, the alliance issued a joint communique saying that China was a “decisive enabler” of Russia’s “war effort.”

“We call on the PRC (People’s Republic of China), as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council with a particular responsibility to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN charter, to cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort,” it read.

In their strongest-ever rebuke of China in recent times, the 32-member NATO alliance said China should “cease all material and political support to Russia’s war effort” and that Beijing’s “no limits” collaboration with Russia and its “large-scale support for Russia’s defense industrial base” allow Moscow to carry out its war.

China slammed the statement and warned NATO against “provoking confrontation” over its ties with Russia. NATO should “stop hyping up the so-called China threat and provoking confrontation and rivalry, and do more to contribute to world peace and stability,” said a spokesperson for Beijing’s mission to the European Union. Further, China accused NATO of seeking security at the expense of others and cautioned the alliance not to bring the same “chaos” to Asia.

While China has refused to condemn or sanction Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, it continues to refute the accusation that it is supplying aid to the Russian military. Intriguingly, the latest exercises were launched just a day after Beijing condemned the NATO statement and called it the ‘cold war mentality.’

Besides its close collaboration with Russia and the latest military drills that seem to symbolize its unwavering allegiance to Moscow, China has launched several military activities globally in what appears to be an attempt to challenge the authority of the West, led by the United States.

China Is Challenging The West

As tensions rise between the United States and China, the Chinese military is extending its reach beyond its borders by partnering with allied countries, causing concern among Western nations. It recently began an 11-day drill with Belarus, which borders Poland, a NATO member state.

The drills are taking place at a training ground near Brest, on the Belarus-Poland border, just 40 miles from Belarus’s border with Ukraine. The drills, which run from July 8 to 19, include night landing operations and overcoming water obstacles, signaling a high level of military preparedness and coordination.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China said on July 13 that live-fire training exercises using a variety of weapons and anti-terrorism operations would be part of the next phase of a joint military drill with Belarusian forces. Many in the West see the presence of Chinese troops so close to a NATO border as provocative and China’s bid to challenge the Western reign in Europe.

China also started a military drill with Laos, one of the few Southeast Asian countries aligned with Beijing. After conducting similar training in Cambodia, Chinese troops arrived in Laos last week. The drills began on July 5 and are expected to run for two weeks until July 19. Laos is strategically located along the Mekong River, providing an important trade route connecting Southeast Asia with China.

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The US is wary of these drills because China has been seeking closer military cooperation with its neighbors to counter the US’ expanding influence in Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific area.

If that was not sufficient to rattle the US and its allies, China also launched military drills in the Pacific, close to the self-ruled island state of Taiwan, which Beijing has vowed to occupy.

As a flurry of airplanes flew over the island on July 11 to join exercises with China’s Shandong aircraft carrier in the Pacific, Taiwan said it was closely monitoring the Chinese military, which it claimed presented an increasing threat to the area.

Japan, a close ally of the United States in the area, also cautioned that Taiwan tensions could get worse due to China’s heightened military drills, which appeared to be partly aimed at preparing Beijing’s soldiers for a possible invasion of the democratically ruled island.

Incidentally, while sailing toward the Pacific for drills, the Shandong carrier passed close to the Philippines. This happened at a time of escalating tensions between Beijing and Manila. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) earlier this month deployed the aircraft carrier Shandong near the Philippines’ waters just days after a massive scuffle broke out between Chinese Coast Guard and Filipino forces.

As China makes concerted efforts to expand its influence, it has also managed to woo some of its traditional allies like the United Arab Emirates. The two sides recently kicked off joint air drills in Xinjiang Province.

Also, there are rumors that Beijing may have managed to get a toehold in the region that the US essentially refers to as its backyard. According to recent reports, China has allegedly been operating a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019. These reports suggest that the two countries signed a contract to build an electronic eavesdropping station on the island.

China is openly defying the United States’ influence and authority by utilizing its vast resources and strengthening military connections with countries hostile to the US, potentially sparking the largest rivalry in contemporary history.

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