Chinese, Russian bombers conduct joint patrols and land in each other’s territory
Bilateral military cooperation reaches new highs, although China seems to be moving ahead without Russian participation in its new domestic aircraft line.
Chinese and Russian bombers conducted an apparently unprecedented joint patrol this week, as the two sides flew over the waters of the East Sea/Sea of Japan, as well as the East China Sea. The Drive reported that this is the first time that Chinese and Russian bombers have landed at each other’s airfields for this type of exercise.
Sino-Russian joint bomber patrols are hardly unprecedented. While U.S. President Joe Biden was in Tokyo in May, China and Russia conducted a joint strategic patrol over the East Sea/Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, and the western Pacific Ocean.
- A previous Sino-Russian aviation patrol in 2019 also stirred tensions in Northeast Asia: When a Russian Beriev A-50 early warning and control aircraft entered into airspace that South Korea regards as its own, South Korean planes fired 20 flares and 360 machine gun rounds as a warning.
The most recent joint Sino-Russian patrols and landings are an obvious indicator of increasingly robust bilateral military ties between the two authoritarian powers. Could the patrols also represent an expression of Putin’s political support for Xí Jìnpíng 习近平 amid turmoil in Chinese domestic politics?
There doesn’t appear to be a clear answer. While joint patrols are diplomatically sensitive and logistically complicated, both sides have substantial experience with these operations and would have required little notice or preparation. Moreover, unlike the May 2022 joint patrol, which coincided with a U.S. presidential visit to a treaty ally in the region, the most recent operation does not appear to align with any event on the diplomatic calendar. The latest patrol likely reflects the two sides’ willingness to routinize military interactions.
On the other hand, it’s also possible that the joint patrols this week were a signal that the Russian autocrat supports his Chinese counterpart despite the astonishing protests in China over the weekend. Russia’s ability to influence domestic political outcomes in China is very, very limited (unlike, say, Kazakhstan). Still, a demonstration of support for Xi from Moscow could factor into the calculus of some actors in Chinese elite politics, particularly the PLA and the security services.
The joint patrols are probably just another indicator of the two sides’ increasingly close military ties and hostility to the U.S. alliance system, but there may be a Chinese domestic political angle to the exercises as well.
China’s C919 plane enters production
The People’s Daily reported that China’s domestically developed jetliner, the C919, has received a safety certification and can now enter mass production. It’s unclear if the C919’s developer, the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), will ever effectively compete with airframes from Boeing or Airbus. Still, the safety certification is a major milestone — and one with potential implications for the CR929, a Sino-Russia jointly designed airframe. The CR929 has reportedly started design work, according to a September article by the Global Times, although the project appeared to be at risk earlier this year as a Russian vice premier expressed concerns about the direction of cooperation.
If the C919 succeeds, it’s unclear if Chinese aviation will need — or even want — Russian partners. The past week demonstrates that the two sides continue to have robust military ties. At the same time, the relationship’s shifting military, economic, and technological imbalances continue to increasingly favor China.
