The Chinese and Russian militaries have held numerous drills in the past few years. In this photo, both navies participate in joint exercises in August 2015 [Xinhua]
Following the visit of Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan to Moscow last week the two countries are pushing forward to unify their defensive capabilities.
China and Russia will work toward “greater unity and joint effort” to tackle increasing dangers in Asia, Chang said.
According to Chinese media, the new joint military cooperation will involve the “first-ever joint exercise on how to counter an incidental or provocative” missile attack.
Last week, both countries expressed strong reservations at reports that the US military was soon to deployed advanced anti-missile weapons on the Korean Peninsula.
The US and its South Korean ally have been in talks for the past three months to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, as a response to Pyongyang’s recent ballistic missile tests; experts warn that some are designed for carrying nuclear warheads.
As one of the most advanced missile defense systems in the world, THAAD can intercept and destroy ballistic missiles inside or just outside the atmosphere during their final phase of flight.
Despite claims by Washington and Seoul that the missile shield would be focused solely on North Korea, Beijing says the US deployment would pose considerable threat to neighboring countries.
“Once deployed, the system would pose a direct threat to the strategic security of China and Russia,” the Chinese foreign ministry said last week.
Media in both countries speculated that the announcement of the joint anti-missile exercise comes in response to the expected Thaad deployment.
The drill scheduled for the end of the May will involve a simulation of a missile attack on both countries. Chinese and Russian military personnel will work together to respond to the simulated threat.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
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