iPhone | iPad
Android
Huawei
The delegations called for additional border crossings to be opened, including the Aweil crossing from South Sudan
KT APPDOWNLOAD
China, Russia conduct joint Pacific military patrol
The two countries have drawn closer in recent years and tout their friendship as having 'no limits'
The Russian corvette Gromkiy enters the port of Zhanjiang during the Joint Sea-2024 China-Russia naval exercise, in Zhanjiang, China, in this still image from video released on Saturday. — Reuters
China and Russia conducted a joint naval patrol in the northern and western Pacific, Beijing's defence ministry said on Sunday, adding that the exercise was not "targeted" at any other nation.
The two countries have drawn closer in recent years and tout their friendship as having "no limits". Both share hostile relations with US-led Western defence alliance Nato.
Beijing has further strengthened its diplomatic, economic and military ties with Moscow since the start of the Russian attack on Ukraine in February 2022.
China, which has never condemned the attack, maintains it is a neutral party to the conflict. But Western leaders have criticised it for giving political and economic support to Russia, including trade in goods that have both civilian and military uses.
"According to the annual plan and the consensus between China and Russia, naval vessels of China and Russia recently carried out their fourth joint maritime patrol in the western and northern Pacific Ocean," the Chinese defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
"This operation is not targeted at any third party and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation," it added.
No details were provided on the Pacific manoeuvres, including the ships' routes, their exact locations or the nature of the forces involved.
On Friday, China said it was also conducting drills with Russia — known as Joint Sea-2024 — along its southern coast.
This came after Nato leaders declared Beijing had "become a decisive enabler" of Moscow's war in Ukraine, and after Japan warned of a growing threat from Beijing's strong ties with Moscow.
Beijing has rejected the criticisms.
The drills in the waters and airspace around Zhanjiang, a city in southern Guangdong province, are "to demonstrate the resolve and capabilities of the two sides in jointly addressing maritime security threats and preserving global and regional peace and stability", the ministry said.
The Russian defence ministry said on Saturday that two of its warships had arrived in Zhanjiang to take part in the joint naval drills, with an initial phase taking place from Monday to Wednesday.
The Pacific is a hotbed of international tensions due to sovereignty disputes between Beijing and several of its US-backed neighbours, such as Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan.
China and Russia hold joint military exercises regularly but their level of interoperability is greatly inferior to that of Nato, the European Union Institute for Security Studies said in a report in early July.
In 2023, ships from the two countries took part in a naval exercise off the US state of Alaska.
More news from World
Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will return to Earth on a SpaceX vehicle in February 2025
Sheikh Saud is leading a high-level Ras Al Khaimah delegation to the four-day conference, which is one of the largest investment fairs in China
The plane carrying 247 passengers had been flying to Frankfurt, Germany, from Mumbai, India
The autopsies on cook Recaldo Thomas and Mike Lynch were expected to be conducted on Friday, with Hannah Lynch due to follow on Saturday
PM2.5 reached levels higher than average in India due to human and industrial activity, according to the UN weather agency
The rape and murder of a 31-year-old doctor in Kolkata on August 9 has stoked nationwide anger at the chronic issue of violence against women
The decision by District Judge Barker maintains a pause on the programme through September 23 to allow for legal briefing and a possible hearing