Military planes of Russia and China conducted a joint exercise over the Sea of Japan, East China Sea and the Western Pacific, the Japanese defence ministry said on Tuesday. The exercise came on the same day when leaders of the Quad bloc, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden, met in Tokyo.
Japan's defence minister Nobuo Kishi called it a “provocation” though the planes did not breach the territorial airspace. Kishi said his government has expressed "grave concerns" to both Russia and China over the flights.
This is the fourth time since November that long-distance joint flights by Russia and China have been spotted near Japan, he said. “We believe the fact that this action was taken during the Quad summit makes it more provocative than in the past".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australia's newly-elected Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met in Tokyo on Tuesday as part of the Quad summit. In a clear message to China, the four leaders in a joint statement said they opposed any provocative or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo and increase tensions in the East and South China Seas.
Quoting the Chinese defence ministry, Reuters reported that the joint patrol lasted 13 hours and involved Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers and Chinese Xian H-6 jets. Beijing called it part of an annual military exercise.
A senior US official told Reuters that the joint exercise shows the depth of the alignment between China and Russia.
"China is not walking away from Russia. Instead, the exercise shows that China is ready to help Russia defend its east while Russia fights in its west," he told the news agency.
The joint military exercise, the first since Russia's invasion on Ukraine, assumes significance since it came a day after President Biden asserted that the US would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan.
The US traditionally has avoided making such an explicit security guarantee to Taiwan, with which it no longer has a mutual defense treaty.
China has stepped up its military provocations against democratic Taiwan in recent years aimed at intimidating it into accepting Beijing's demands to unify with the communist mainland.