The Chinese military announced at the end of July 2025 that it would hold an annual naval exercise and conduct a maritime joint patrol with Russian forces in August. The Joint Sea 2025 exercise was held August 1 through August 5 in the air and seas near the Russian port city of Vladivostok, which lies across the sea from Japan’s west coast. Last year, the drill was held off southern China in the South China Sea.
The Chinese and Russian governments have deepened their ties in recent years, with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) providing an economic lifeline to Russia in the face of Western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. European leaders asked the CCP again in July to use its influence to pressure Russia to end the war, now in its fourth year, but there was no sign that Beijing would do so.
Japan’s Defense Ministry said in an annual report earlier in July that the CCP’s growing military cooperation with Russia poses serious security concerns.