China-Russia fleet extends patrol to Okinawa waters, circling Japan in show of reach

China's state media said the joint naval patrol conducted by Chinese and Russian forces from July 13 to Wednesday significantly expanded its operational range compared with previous exercises.

According to China's Ministry of National Defense and the state-run Global Times, the combined fleet concluded the patrol Wednesday upon arriving at the Russian port of Vladivostok. It was the sixth joint patrol the two navies have conducted in the Pacific.

The fleet departed from Qingdao in China's Shandong Province and passed successively through the Miyako Strait, the Iturup Strait — also known as the Vries Strait — and the Soya Strait, also known as the La Perouse Strait, before operating in the western Pacific, the Sea of Okhotsk and the East Sea.

Participating vessels included China's Northern Theater Command Type 055 missile destroyer Ansan, Type 052D missile destroyer Kaifeng and replenishment ship Kekexilihu, along with Russia's frigate Rezky.

The two navies conducted cross-deck helicopter landing drills as well as counterterrorism, humanitarian rescue, and vessel search-and-seizure exercises. China's Ministry of National Defense said the patrol was carried out under the two militaries' annual cooperation plan and was unrelated to the current international and regional situation.

Japan's Defense Ministry pushed back, saying the combined fleet fired machine guns inside what Japan claims as its exclusive economic zone during the patrol.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian rejected Japan's protest at a regular briefing, calling it groundless. Lin said that under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Okinotorishima is a rock, not an island, and therefore provides no basis for claiming an exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.

The Global Times described the 17-day mission as notable for a "significantly expanded operational route compared with previous joint patrols." The outlet said the route covered not only the Japanese mainland but also the Ryukyu Islands, which are at the center of a territorial dispute between China and Japan.

Chinese military expert Song Zhongping told the Global Times that the patrol showed the fallacy of Japan's and the United States' belief that controlling key maritime chokepoints can contain China. "China must develop the capability to break through strategic straits and secure critical sea lanes — that capability is an important indicator of a nation's military strength," he said.

Song added that the so-called first island chain promoted by the United States and its allies is intended to confine China and Russia to near-shore and coastal waters. "China and Russia have demonstrated their operational capabilities through these strategic waterways, showing that the two countries' strategic capabilities are consistently growing," he said.

Another expert, Zhang Junshe, told the Global Times that if the Chinese naval task force returns via the Korea Strait, it would complete a full circuit of the Japanese archipelago, covering its eastern, northern and western approaches.