China to hold drills with Russia in Sea

‘Pressing ahead with anti-missile system’

BEIJING, July 28, (RTRS): China and Russia will hold “routine” naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, China’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday, adding that the drills were aimed at strengthening their cooperation and were not aimed at any other country.

The exercises come at a time of heightened tension in the contested waters after an arbitration court in the Hague ruled this month that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea and criticised its environmental destruction there.

China rejected the ruling and refused to participate in the case.

“This is a routine exercise between the two armed forces, aimed at strengthening the developing China-Russia strategic cooperative partnership,” China’s defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a regular monthly news conference.

“The exercise is not directed against third parties.”

China and Russia are vetowielding members of the UN Security Council, and have held similar views on many major issues such as the crisis in Syria, putting them at odds with the United States and Western Europe.

Last year, they held joint military drills in the Sea of Japan and the Mediterranean.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of trade moves annually. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have rival claims.

China has repeatedly blamed the United States for stoking tension in the region through its military patrols, and of taking sides in the dispute.

The United States has sought to assert its right to freedom of navigation in the South China Sea with its patrols and denies taking sides in the territorial disputes.

Russia has been a strong backer of China’s stance on the arbitration case, that was brought by the Philippines.

Yang said China and Russia were comprehensive strategic partners and had already held many exercises this year.

“These drills deepen mutual trust and expand cooperation, raise the ability to jointly deal with security threats, and benefit the maintenance of regional and global peace and stability,” he said.

Also: BEIJING: China’s Defence Ministry confirmed on Thursday that it was pressing ahead with antimissile system tests after pictures appeared on state television, amid anger at South Korea’s decision to deploy an advanced US antimissile system.

An announcement by South Korea and the United States this month that they would deploy a Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) unit has drawn protests from China, which warned that the system would destabilize regional security.

The decision by the United States and South Korea is the latest move to squeeze increasingly isolated

North Korea, but China worries the system’s radar will be able to track its military capabilities. Russia also opposes the deployment.

Pictures broadcast this week on Chinese television were the third time since 2010 that China has publicly indicated tests of its own anti-missile system, state media said.

“To develop suitable capabilities for missile defence is necessary for China to maintain its national security,” Defence Ministry spokesman

Yang Yujun told a regular monthly briefing, when asked about the footage.

“It will improve the self-defence capability of China and is not targeting any specific country and will not affect international strategic stability,” he added, without elaborating.

South Korea and the United States have said THAAD would only be used in defence against North Korean ballistic missiles and they have tried to assuage Chinese concerns, without apparent success.