A joint patrol staged by Russia and China that came within 200 miles of the Alaskan coast this week indicates that the two nations are “deepening” their military cooperation, a defense analyst has assessed.
In what has been viewed by some as an unprecedented move, Russian Tu-95MS and Chinese H-6K strategic bombers, alongside escorting Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S jets, operated together over the north Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. It marked the first time the two countries had been intercepted while operating together.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on October 17, 2023. A joint patrol staged by Russia and China came within 200 miles of the Alaskan coast this week.
SERGEI SAVOSTYANOV/POOL/AFP/Getty Images
The aircraft were intercepted by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which said that they didn’t enter U.S. or Canadian sovereign airspace.
While the two countries’ air forces have been practicing and exercising together several times in the past few years, the latest five-hour joint patrol “shows that Russia and China are deepening their military cooperation, with China benefiting the most from Russia’s more robust experience in this area,” said Federico Borsari, of the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) think tank.
“What is relevant is the increasing interest of China in the Arctic/High North region due to its potential in terms of trade connections, newly discovered energy resources, and strategic value,” Borsari told Newsweek.
Beijing and Moscow have forged close ties throughout Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and declared a “no limits” partnership in February 2022, days before the war began. China has not publicly criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade the Eastern European country and has maintained that it adopts a neutral position on the war.
Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski decried the joint patrol as an “unprecedented provocation by our adversaries,” noting in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, that it was “the first time they have been intercepted operating together.”
Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan said it marked an “escalation” by Russia and China.
“Alaska continues to be on the front lines of the authoritarian aggression by the dictators in Russia and China who are increasingly working together,” he said on X.
“The Arctic is a critical area of strategic competition between the U.S., Russia and China. As I have been warning our Pentagon leaders for years, these kinds of joint Russia and China incursions on the sea and in the air near Alaska will continue,” Sullivan said.
Beijing said the military exercise was “not directed at any third party, complies with international law and practices, and is unrelated to the current international and regional situation.”
Moscow said similar, emphasizing that the “aircraft of both countries acted strictly in accordance with the provisions of international law” and that “no violations of the airspace of foreign states were committed.”
“The event was carried out as part of the implementation of the military cooperation plan for 2024 and is not directed against third countries,” Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
Borsari said these joint patrols are a way to test the response, its nature, and reaction time of the U.S. and other allies.
“Furthermore, the timing of this Russian-Chinese air patrol is not random and takes place precisely when U.S. and allied forces from 29 nations are involved in RIMPAC 2024, a massive joint exercise in the Pacific region near Hawaii,” he added.
Robert Murrett, a retired U.S. Vice Admiral and deputy director of the Institute for Security Policy and Law, said in an emailed statement to Newsweek that the joint patrols reflect “increased Chinese activity throughout the Arctic, consistent with ongoing attempts to increase presence there as a self-described ‘near Arctic’ nation.”
Chinese leader Xi Jinping is Putin’s closest major ally. In an interview with Chinese state media in October, the Russian president said his Chinese counterpart “calls me his friend, and I call him my friend.”
Putin described Xi as “one of the recognized world leaders” who does not “make a momentary decision based on some current situation, he assesses the situation, analyzes and looks into the future.”
In 2022, a U.S. Naval War College report anticipated heightened China-Russia military collaboration, with the next three to five years likely to be “the most critical period for a tighter Sino-Russian alignment to shape the regional and global security environments.”
“Russia’s financial duress from NATO/OECD member-state sanctions likely will peak by 2025-27, and with it, Russian entities’ motivation to share military crown-jewel technologies with China,” the report said.
Russia will be able to contribute significantly to China’s regional and global strategic positions, despite lacking the economic heft to be the force multiplier and geopolitical partner to the country that many G7 countries are to the U.S., it said.
“As a spoiler, it can attempt to tie down American and allied forces outside the Indo-Pacific for its own purposes, and thereby distract governments in Europe and the United States from focusing as tightly on competition with China as they otherwise might.”
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