China, Russia to hold joint drills in Sea of Japan

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China, Russia to hold joint drills in Sea of Japan - China News - SINA English
2013-07-02 00:22:16 GMT2013-07-02 08:22:16(Beijing Time) Xinhua English

China and Russia will hold two joint military drills in the coming two months, military officials from both countries said here Monday.

Fang Fenghui, chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People' s Liberation Army (PLA), together with his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov, ratified relevant documents and announced the decision at a joint press conference.

Fang, who is also a member of the Central Military Commission, is paying an official visit to Russia.

According to the two officials, Chinese and Russian armed forces will hold "Joint Sea-2013" drill in Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan from July 5 to July 12, and China-Russia joint anti- terrorism military drill code-named Peace Mission-2013 in Russia's Chelyabinsk from July 27 to August 15.

The joint drills are not targeting any third party, and meant to strengthen cooperation between the two armed forces in military training, enhance their capability in coordinating military operations, so that they can play a positive role in safeguarding regional security and stability, Fang said.

In a separate meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Fang praised the good momentum of relationship between the two armed forces and their fruitful cooperation.

China, together with Russia, is willing to enhance high-level mutual visits, professional and personnel exchanges as well as joint exercises between the two armed forces, so as to push forward bilateral military ties, Fang said.

Shoigu, for his part, called for closer military exchanges and coordination between the two close neighbors and strategic partners in the context of new challenges facing regional and global peace and stability.

Russian fleet to join the drill

PLAN to join the drill

 

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http://www.democratandchronicle.com/usatoday/article/2491025

BEIJING (AP) - China and Russia kicked off their largest-ever joint naval drills on Friday in the Sea of Japan, a further sign of the broad-based progress in ties between the former Cold War rivals.

Eighteen surface ships, one submarine, three airplanes, five ship-launched helicopters and two commando units were taking part in the "Joint Sea-2013" exercise that runs through July 12. The drills will cover anti-submarine warfare, close maneuvering, and the simulated take-over of an enemy ship.

The drills are considerably bigger than anything China's navy has previously held with a foreign partner. China's increasingly formidable navy is contributing four destroyers, two latest-generation guided missile frigates and a support ship, all of which sailed Monday from the port of Qingdao, where China's Northern Fleet is based, to the rallying point in Peter the Great Bay near Vladivostok.

"This is our strongest line-up ever in a joint naval drill," Rear Admiral Yang Junfei, commander of the Chinese contingent, was quoted as saying by state media.

China has long been a key customer for Russian military hardware, but only in the last decade have their militaries begun training jointly. The naval drills are to be followed by another round of anti-terrorism joint drills in Russia's Ural Mountain region of Chelyabinsk from July 27 to Aug. 15.

China's armed forces are eagerly pursuing stronger links with most regional militaries, with the notable exception of Japan, with which China is embroiled in a strongly emotional spat over control of an uninhabited East China Sea island group north of Taiwan.

China began deploying ships to the anti-piracy flotilla off the coast of Somalia in 2008 and in recent years its navy has joined in a series of joint drills in the Pacific and Indian oceans. Chinese land units also have taken part in border security and anti-terrorism exercises organized by the six-nation Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

Cooperation with the U.S. Navy, the predominant maritime force in the region, has been more limited, although China will take part next year in the U.S.-organized multinational Rim of the Pacific exercises, the world's largest maritime exercise.

PLAN arriving at Vladivostok

 

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The drill on 10 July

 

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Time to say goodbye

 

[CCTV]

For the peace of the planet.