Chinese and Russian warships conduct ‘very provocative’ exercises near Alaska coast, prompting US Navy to mobilize destroyers to target rivals from US waters
Chinese and Russian warships conduct ‘very provocative’ exercises near Alaska coast, prompting US Navy to mobilize destroyers to target rivals from US waters
- It is believed to be the largest such fleet to have approached US waters
- The US Navy has been praised for its strong response to “provocative” action amid tensions
- Warnings of further joint Chinese and Russian naval exercises in ‘dangerous world’
China and Russia launched an unprecedented joint naval exercise near US waters earlier this week, prompting a major response from the US Navy, officials said.
Eleven Russian and Chinese ships steamed close to Alaska’s Aleutian Islands in a “very provocative” action amid escalating tensions with the US.
It is believed to be the largest fleet to reach the US coast.
Four US destroyers and a P-8 Poseidon aircraft were deployed to divert the ships away from US territory to prevent a serious international incident, officials said.
Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, a Republican member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, told The Wall Street Journal the patrol recalled that the US has entered “a new era of authoritarian aggression” but praised the Navy’s strong response.
China and Russia launched an unprecedented joint naval exercise near US waters earlier this week. US officials warned it was part of a “dangerous” new era of maritime cooperation between the two countries. Pictured above are Russian and Chinese warships conducting their first joint patrols in the Pacific during a previous operation.
The fleet sailed close to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska before being diverted by the US Navy
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping have formed a close alliance to counter US partnerships with Japan, South Korea and other regional rivals
He compared it to a similar but smaller incident last September, in which the US sent a single Coast Guard cutter to escort a Chinese guided-missile cruiser alongside two other Chinese ships and four Russian ships about 90 miles north of the Aleutian Islands.
The scale of the latest joint operation between China and Russia is “a historic first,” said Brent Sadler, a senior researcher.
“Given the context of the war in Ukraine and tensions over Taiwan, this move is very provocative,” he told The Wall Street Journal.
A US Northern Command spokesman confirmed that Russia and China had conducted a combined naval patrol near Alaska, but did not specify the number of vessels or their precise location.
Air and naval assets under our command conducted operations to ensure the defense of the United States and Canada. The patrol remained in international waters and was not considered a threat,” the command told the WSJ.
The USS John S. McCain, the USS Benfold, the USS John Finn and the USS Chung-Hoon were deployed in response, a US defense official said.
The exercises come amid an emerging power struggle in the Arctic as the Russian and Chinese navies scramble to counter US alliances with Japan, South Korea and other regional partners.
Russian warships and Chinese research vessels have been spotted in Arctic waters before, but joint patrols are a new development.
USS Chung-Hoon was one of the ships that responded to the fleet, according to a US defense official
A Chinese Navel ship departs Sydney Harbor on June 7, 2019
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a reception at the Moscow Kremlin on March 21, 2023
Admiral John Aquilino, who heads the US Indo-Pacific Command, said last month that joint Russian and Chinese exercises have increased.
“I can only see the collaboration getting stronger, and boy, is that worrying. That’s a dangerous world,” he told the Aspen Security Forum.
A spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington said the patrol did not target Washington earlier this week.
According to the annual cooperation plan between the Chinese and Russian armies, naval vessels from the two countries recently conducted joint maritime patrols in relevant waters in the western and northern Pacific.
“This action is not against third parties and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation,” said Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu.