By Ankit Panda
Russia and China will hold a naval exercise in the South China Sea next year.
Russia and China intend to hold naval exercises in the South China Sea, according to comments by Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov. The exercises will include Russia’s allies in the Asia-Pacific region, though Antonov did not clarify which countries, beyond China, would participate in the exercises. Russia maintains close relations with several Southeast Asian states, especially with Vietnam, for which Russia is an important provider of arms. China, however, is involved in territorial disputes with four Southeast Asian states — Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei — over the sovereignty of various islands and reefs in the South China Sea.
A major point of agreement between China and Russia, per Antonov’s comments in Singapore, is that the United States is the primary destabilizing factor in the South China Sea. Antonov suggested that Russia and China were being singled out for criticism by the United States: ”We are concerned by U.S. policies in the region, especially since every day it becomes increasingly focused on a systemic containment of Russia and China.” Antonov’s remarks reflect the broader cooling of bilateral relations between the White House and the Kremlin since Russia’s invasion of Crimea and subsequent backing of anti-government rebels in Ukraine last year.
“Despite our concerns about the U.S. global missile defense architecture, they continue a policy of disrupting strategic stability, adding a regional segment of an anti-missile ‘shield’ in the Asia-Pacific,” he added.
Read the full story at The Diplomat