Joint Air Patrols Signal Deepening Moscow-Beijing Military Axis

The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Russian and Chinese bombers carried out joint air patrols over the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea earlier today. Reports are that for the first time during joint patrols, Russian plans landed at a Chinese airfield, and vice versa.

• The Chief of Staff of the South Korea armed forces confirmed that two Chinese and six Russian planes entered the country's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) without giving notification to Seoul, but did not violate South Korea's airspace.
• This example of closer military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow will come as a notable worry for the US and its allies.
• The Center for European Policy Analysis highlights the challenge to the US from a closer China-Russia axis: "...while Russia’s economic potential is often dismissed [...] the Kremlin brings to the Sino-Russian alliance a degree of complementarity in areas where China is lacking. So, while it is true that China’s vast industrial base is not synonymous with the country’s ability to field state-of-the-art military systems [...] Russia for its part has continued to improve its weapons designs with systems that, if offered to China, could allow its defense industry to become competitive with US systems."