BEIJING, July 29 (Reuters) – Chinese and Russian naval warships have completed a joint patrol lasting more than two weeks and arrived in Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East on Wednesday, China’s state news agency Xinhua reported.
The patrol was part of the annual military cooperation plan between China and Russia and was “not related to the current international and regional situation”, Xinhua said.
• The task force departed Qingdao in eastern China on July 13 and sailed through key Northeast Asia waterways of Miyako Strait, Vries Strait and La Perouse Strait, conducting patrols in the western Pacific, Sea of Okhotsk and Sea of Japan, Xinhua said.
• In Japan, the Vries Strait is known as the Etorofu Strait and the La Perouse Strait as the Soya Strait.
• The waterways traversed are near Japan and Russia’s Far East and are seen as strategically important maritime routes closely monitored by the United States, Japan and other regional powers.
• The task force consisted of the Chinese navy’s guided-missile destroyers Kaifeng and Anshan, supply ship Kekexilihu, and the Russian navy frigate Rezky Corvette.
• During their patrol, China and Russia conducted helicopter cross-deck landings, joint counter-terrorism exercises, humanitarian rescue missions, and visit-board-search-and-seizure (VBSS) operations, according to Xinhua.
• Chinese warships also carried out additional combat-oriented exercises based on real-time maritime and air conditions during the mission.
• China and Russia have expanded military cooperation in recent years through joint exercises and patrols with both countries pledging to deepen ties.
• Last week, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov that China and Russia should strengthen strategic coordination, safeguard the outcomes of World War Two and “never allow Japan to rearm”.
(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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