China and Russian already began eight days of naval drills in the South China Sea on Monday. This was reported to be a sign of increasingly tighter links between the world's second and third largest militaries as they reportedly seek to counter United States' influence in the said region.
According to Chinese navy spokesman Liang Yang, "Joint Sea-2016", the latest Chinese-Russian exercises are the biggest joint operations over by two navies. He further said that "island seizing" activities include anti-submarine operations will feature also live fire drills and island defense.
China claims 85 percent of the disputed waters while Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei have competing claims.
In July, an arbitration court ruling said that there was no historical basis for China for its sovereignty claims on the South China Sea. However, China government rejected the ruling.
"By holding the exercise with China regardless of the sensitivity of the issue, Russia is effectively showing its support for China," said Wang Haiyun, a retired major general and a senior adviser to the China Institute for International Strategic Studies.
Russia and China back each other when it comes to politics especially on international controversies.
At the Group of 20 summit in Hangzhou, Russian president Vladimir Putin reported that Russia supports China's stand on The Hague court's ruling.
"The fact that China and Russia are hosting military exercises jointly shows that the two countries have a very high level of mutual trust," said Li Xing, the director of the Eurasian Studies Center at Beijing Normal University.
