China and Russia to hold joint naval drills in South China Sea

China and Russia will stage eight days of naval manoeuvres in South China Sea off the coast of Guangdong Province from Monday, the Chinese navy said on Sunday, amid heightened tensions following international arbitration denying Beijing's claims to the disputed region.

Both China and Russia are veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council, and they are finding common ground on a number of issues lately, such as Syria.

“Joint Sea-2016” will feature People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, ship-borne helicopters, marine corps and amphibious armoured equipment from both navies, defence ministry spokesman Liang Yang said, quoted by the official Xinhua news agency.

“Together, Chinese and Russian participants will undertake defence, rescue, and anti-submarine operations, in addition to joint island seizing and other activities,” Mr Liang said. The drills were “routine” and not directed at any other countries.

Last year, the two countries held joint military drills in the Sea of Japan and the Mediterranean.

The reference to "island seizing" is sure to attract attention among China's neighbours, most of whom have territorial disputes with Beijing over the South China Sea, including Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and self-ruled Taiwan.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) tribunal in The Hague has ruled in favour of the Philippines' petition on China's claims over the disputed territory.

China claims all the area within the “nine-dash line”, a U-shaped area that extends hundreds of kilometres to the south and east of its island province of Hainan, including the Spratly islands, the Paracels and obscure sandbars such as the Macclesfield Bank, the Scarborough Shoal and the Pratas Islands. The “nine-dash line” was drawn up after Japan was defeated in the second World War.

The drills take place at a time of high tension in the region after North Korea conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test last Friday, angering its neighbours and the international community.

The US, Japan, and South Korea have requested that China, one of the North's few meaningful allies, put more pressure on Pyongyang.

Prime minister Shinzo Abe met President Xi Jinping last week at the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, and they held talks to ease difficulties in their relationship. However, Tokyo said that four Chinese coast guard vessels had sailed into territorial waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, known as the Diaoyu Islands in China.