BEIJING, Dec. 29 -- The recent China-Russia Joint Sea-2022 naval exercise fully reflected the level of strategic mutual trust and the depth of tactical coordination between the two sides, and further deepened the China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership of coordination for a new era, said Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, at a regular press conference on Thursday.
He introduced that according to the annual military cooperation plan between China and Russia, the navies of the two countries held the joint military exercise in waters east of the sea area from Zhoushan to Taizhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, from December 21 to 27. "Adopting the red-blue confrontation approach, the two sides have conducted joint training drills on blockade and control, visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS), air defense, rescue, anti-submarine, and others," said the spokesperson. And then he elaborated on the three features of the exercise.
Firstly, it reflected the close coordination between the two navies. Both sides sent surface warships, submarines, aviation forces and other arms of the navy to predesigned waters and carried out maritime operations immediately after assembly at sea, which showed that the Chinese and Russian navies have formed a complete set of emergency coordination methods, communication and liaison standards and joint training organization mechanism after 10 years of joint exercises.
Secondly, it reflected the responsibilities of the two navies."With the exercise focusing on joint maintenance of maritime security, the participating troops of the two navies took diversified military operations to jointly maintain the security and smoothness of the strategic maritime passages, demonstrating the determination and ability of both sides to jointly address maritime security threats and maintain international and regional peace and stability," Tan said.
And thirdly, it reflected the professional confidence of the two navies."The weather and sea conditions in the waters predesigned for the joint exercise have been adverse as affected by the cold wave," Tan mentioned, adding that the vessels from both sides withstood the test of strong winds and waves, completed the established subjects with excellence while overcoming many difficulties in close cooperation, and demonstrated professional tactical literacy and tenacious fighting style.
