China, Russia to hold joint naval drill in politically sensitive East China Sea

Decision to stage exercise in East China Sea may be a way of showing displeasure at US policies

PUBLISHED : Wednesday, 30 April, 2014, 11:29pm

UPDATED : Thursday, 01 May, 2014, 7:48am

Minnie Chan minnie.chan@scmp.com

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Crew on the Chinese destroyer Shenyang Photo: Xinhua

China and Russia will stage a naval drill in the sensitive East China Sea at the end of this month, a move analysts say could be aimed at showing their displeasure over Washington's policies regarding the Diaoyu Islands and Ukraine.

The Ministry of National Defence yesterday confirmed the Chinese-Russia naval manoeuvres, named Joint Sea-2014, would be staged in waters and air space near Shanghai and in the East China Sea.

"The naval drill, which is a regular exercise between the Chinese and Russian navies, aims to deepen pragmatic co-operation between the two militaries as well as to improve their capability to deal with maritime security threats," the ministry said in a statement.
The East China Sea has become more sensitive after Beijing announced the creation of an air defence identification zone in November. The zone includes the disputed Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan, over which both China and Japan claimed sovereignty, but which are now controlled by Tokyo.