Beijing, Moscow toughen up in Pacific with show of naval force around Japan

In recent months, the United States and its allies have increased large-scale naval exercises in the Pacific, sometimes near the China Sea or Taiwan, which on several occasions provoked the anger of Beijing. Until now, Chinese naval responses have been limited to the deployment of small flotillas most often composed of a Type 052D destroyer and a Type 054A anti-submarine frigate, accompanied by a supply ship. Since then, the massive exercise bringing together 5 Chinese ships, including a Type 055 cruiser, and 5 Russian ships, including two Udaloy-class anti-submarine destroyers, around Japan in recent days, sounds like a new step in the escalation of tensions in this already very tense area.

On October 18, a fleet made up of Cruiser Type 055 Nanchang, Type 052D destroyer Kunming, Type 054A anti-submarine frigates Binzhou and Liuzhou, and the Dongpinghu Type 903A supply vessel, joined a Russian fleet of Udaloy-class anti-submarine destroyers Admiral Panteleev and Admiral Tributs, from two project 20380 Steregushiy frigates Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov and Gromkiy and the Marshal Krylov intelligence ship of the Marshal Nedelin class, to cross the Tsugaru Pass and circumvent the Japanese archipelago from the east while heading southwest.

This is the first time that such a gathering of Sino-Russian naval forces has been observed, and moreover close to the Japanese coast, the Japanese forces dispatching several destroyers and maritime patrol planes to follow the fleet along its route. . This is also the first time that Beijing deploys one of its new Type 055 cruisers, ships weighing more than 12.000 tons carrying more than a hundred vertical silos and having firepower comparable to that of the most imposing Western ships. such as the American Arleigh Burke destroyers or the South Korean Seijong the Great, within a multi-national exercise. The message conveyed by this deployment of force is therefore perfectly clear, since if the United States can rely on powerful allies in the Pacific, such as Japan, South Korea and even India, Beijing and Moscow do now common cause in this theater.

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