Russian, Chinese Bombers Near Japan and South Korea
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
TOKYO (Worthy News) – Russian and Chinese bombers flew joint patrols near Japanese and South Korean air defense zones on Tuesday in an apparent warning to U.S. President Joe Biden visiting the region.
Amid signs of growing military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing, the two nation’s air forces carried out their joint exercises while Biden and other leaders met in Tokyo, Japan.
The “air forces of China and Russia held regular joint strategic patrols above the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea, and the West Pacific Ocean,” the Chinese Defense Ministry said.
Tuesday’s actions were “according to the two sides’ yearly military cooperative plan.”
The exercises came as President Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Australia’s newly elected leader, Anthony Albanese, gathered in the Japanese capital for the “Quad” summit.
The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, colloquially the Quad, aims to counter China’s growing influence in the Asia Pacific region.
Tuesday’s patrols happened hours after Biden angered China by saying he would be willing to respond militarily to defend Taiwan if it came under Chinese attack. China regards the island as its territory.
Biden also discussed responses to Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine with the other Quad leaders.
Japan said it scrambled jets when the Russian and Chinese warplanes neared its airspace. “Two Chinese bombers joined two Russian bombers in the Sea of Japan [known in South Korea as the East Sea] and made a joint flight to the East China Sea,” Nobuo Kishi, the Japanese defense minister, told reporters Tuesday.
The planes did not breach Japan’s territorial airspace, the defense ministry stressed.
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