On October 14, the joint exercise of Russia and China “Sea Interaction – 2021” began. This is reported by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The maneuvers take place in the Sea of ​​Japan and will last until October 17.

“In the course of practical actions, the crews of the ships of the two countries will work out joint tactical maneuvering, anti-mine support of detachments, conduct artillery fire at sea targets, search for and block a conditional submarine in the designated area,” the Russian defense ministry said in a statement.

The Russian Navy is represented by the large anti-submarine ship “Admiral Panteleev”, the corvettes of the project 20380 “Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov” and “Loud”, two base minesweepers, the submarine of the project 877 “Ust-Bolsheretsk”, as well as a missile boat and a rescue tug. From the PRC naval forces, the destroyers “Kun Ming” and “Nan Chang”, the corvettes “Bin Zhou” and “Liu Zhou”, as well as a diesel submarine, an integrated supply ship and a rescue container were involved.

According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, a detachment of Chinese ships arrived at the anchorage area in the water area of ​​the Peter the Great Gulf on October 13.

“In addition to the naval component, 12 planes and helicopters of the naval aviation of the Pacific Fleet and the PLA (People’s Liberation Army of China. – RT) “, – reported in the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Let us remind you that the Maritime Interaction maneuvers with the participation of the fleets of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China have been held since 2012. According to the Ministry of Defense, they are participating in strengthening the combat capability of Russia and China for “joint confrontation at sea.”

In 2019, as part of these exercises, the crews of Russian and Chinese warships worked in the Yellow Sea an episode of a joint operation to detain an intruder. As the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry reported, two inspection groups of 12 people were taken to the conditionally unidentified ship by helicopters and high-speed boats. They were supported by sniper pairs.

• Russian-Chinese exercise “Maritime Interaction-2021”

• © mil.ru

In 2020, these exercises were not held due to restrictive measures associated with the pandemic of the new coronavirus infection.

“Combat smoothing”

As the editor-in-chief of the Arsenal of the Fatherland magazine Viktor Murakhovsky notes in an interview with RT, the Maritime Interaction 2021 exercise demonstrates the development of close military cooperation between Russia and China.

“These are far from the first joint maneuvers. It is “Naval Ship Interaction – 2021” that assumes the use of separate multipurpose groups that can organize both strikes against ground targets, surface ships, and conduct anti-submarine operations, monitor the water area for mines, clear it of mine danger, and organize anti-aircraft defense of naval strategic forces, ”the expert said.

According to Murakhovsky, Russia and China are practicing joint actions at sea.

“Combat coordination is a very important aspect. After all, it’s one thing to draw a strategy on paper, and quite another to implement it in the settings at sea. When ships from different countries are part of the same ship group, this is a rather serious and difficult task, since each fleet has its own specific requirements for joint combat work. Therefore, it is important to systematically improve the interaction according to this view, ”- the analyst.

According to Nikita Danyuk, Deputy Director of the RUDN Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts, member of the Public Chamber of Russia, the Maritime Interaction 2021 exercise not only gives the Russian Federation and China to synchronize their actions at sea, but also give a signal to Western countries to build up the military partnership between Moscow and Beijing. …

“The Asia-Pacific region (APR) is becoming more and more political and geo-economic confrontation. China and Russia are very wary of that confrontation. And these fears are absolutely justified. Conducting Marine Behavior 2021 is the right step against the backdrop of extremely aggressive rhetoric from the West and its unfriendly actions, “the expert said in the comments of RT.

“Not in words, but in deeds”

As noted, in turn, by Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the relevance of joint exercises between Russia and China is increasing significantly against the background of the formation of the AUKUS defense partnership between Washington, London and Canberra, which is aimed primarily at containing China.

“Against the background of the formation of the new Anglo-Saxon countries, the maneuvers of Russia and China demonstrate the partnership of the two states not in words, but in deeds. Beijing and Moscow show their intention to continue to work harmoniously, taking into account the threats, the West abandons the Russian Federation and the PRC, in particular, forging an alliance against China, “he said in a conversation with RT.

We will remind, on September 15, the USA, Australia and Great Britain announced the creation of the AUKUS defense alliance. As part of this partnership, Washington pledged to transfer technology to Canberra to build nuclear submarines, as well as American cruise missiles. Against this background, the Australian side decides to terminate the contract for the supply of 12 French Attack class attack submarines.

Like on October 2, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the 29th Assembly of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, the creation of the AUKUS bloc is the embodiment of the Indo-Pacific Strategies Invented by the United States.

“All this is in line with the erosion of universal formats in the APR, which have existed for decades under the auspices of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations. – RT) and were aseanocentric, Lavrov Prize. “The Indo-Pacific Concept seeks to break up this system based on the need to respect the indivisibility of security, and has openly declared its containment of China.”

Beijing also condemned the formation of AUKUS. Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Le Yucheng said in an interview with CGTN on October 11 that the goal of the new partnership is “the pursuit of maritime hegemony.”

“He (the union – RT) is fueling a regional arms race, fueling a propensity to take military risks and undermining peace and stability in the region. China is firmly against AUKUS, ”the Chinese diplomat said.

Later, on October 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with CNBC that the creation of the AUKUS alliance is a blow to regional stability. According to him, “to be friends against someone is bad.”

“It undermines stability. I hope that what has been done is done, but the situation will not develop according to some unpredictable scenario and will not cause any additional tensions in the region, ”the Russian leader said.

As Blokhin summed up, the unfriendly actions of Western countries, including the formation of AUKUS, are consolidating the efforts of Russia and China to ensure security in the Asia-Pacific region.

“The measures taken by Western countries, in particular the USA, Australia and Great Britain, are spurring the processes of building up Russian-Chinese cooperation, including in the military sphere. Moscow and Beijing are simply left with no other choice, ”the expert concluded.