Russia and China Send a Message to the U.S.-Japan-South Korea Alliance

Joint patrol of Russia and China in the Pacific
Circled around the Japanese archipelago
Recent attempts to counterbalance the U.S.-Japan-South Korea alliance are suspected

There’s a saying that “a close neighbor is better than a distant relative.” It means that no matter how close a person is, if they are far away, a person who is a little less close but nearby is more helpful. However, the opposite interpretation is also possible: if the relationship with a close neighbor becomes strained, it can be more fatal than a distant enemy.

Recently, China and Russia have been causing tension by conducting joint fleet training and patrols in the Pacific. Although it is a protest against Japan, let’s take a closer look at this training, which is a warning to the three countries of the U.S., Japan, and South Korea.

A total of 10 ships, each with 5 ships, patrolled
to maintain peace in the Pacific Ocean

China and Russia each dispatched five battleships, and 10 combined fleets conducted joint training near the Peter the Great Bay near Vladivostok in the Russian Far East. This included joint mobility training, firing training, and helicopter mobilization training. The patrol took place over seven days after these exercises ended.  

The stated purpose of this patrol was to maintain peace in the Asia-Pacific region, maritime detection, protection of the maritime economic zone, and strengthening cooperation between the two navies. However, given that the patrol route exactly circled the Japanese archipelago, its actual purpose seems entirely different.  

Warning to U.S.-Japan-South Korea alliance through Japan
Targeting recent joint training and security cooperation

This joint patrol of China and Russia is largely speculated to be intentional, especially considering that the training route was the Japanese archipelago. It appears to be a warning against the security cooperation relationship formed around the U.S. in East Asia recently. The three countries of the U.S., Japan, and South Korea recently held a security chiefs meeting, and both the South Korean military and the Japan Self-Defense Forces maintain close relationships through long-standing joint operations with the U.S. military.

Therefore, this joint training and patrol can be seen as a blatant protest against this relationship. The U.S. has continuously checked both countries in the Pacific region, and due to issues such as South Korea’s THAAD deployment and North Korea-related issues, they have constantly been militarily checked while having complex interests with South Korea and Japan. In this situation, the U.S.-Japan-South Korea trilateral security system recently shown by the U.S. would have been more threatening to Russia and China.  

Russia-China summit to be held soon

As the U.S.-Japan-South Korea alliance strengthens, the relationship between Russia and China seems to become closer. This is expected to gain momentum through the summit meeting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.