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| Russian-Chinese Aircraft Enter Air Defense Zone, South Korea Immediately Deploys Fighter Jets |
International Military - China and Russia conducted joint air patrols on Tuesday (6/6/2023) over the Sea of Japan and East China Sea for the sixth time since 2019. This prompted neighboring South Korea (South Korea) to send its fighter jets.
China's defense ministry said the patrol was part of the two militaries' annual cooperation plan. According to him, South Korea deployed fighter jets after four Russian and four Chinese military planes entered its air defense zone in the south and east of the Korean Peninsula.
In China's last joint air patrol with Russia last November, South Korea also deployed fighter jets after Chinese H-6K bombers and Russian TU-95 bombers and SU-35 fighter jets entered the Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ). Japan also deployed its fighter jets when Chinese bombers and two Russian drones flew into the Sea of Japan.
Air defense zones are areas where nations demand that foreign aircraft take special steps to identify themselves. Unlike a nation's airspace - the air over its territory and its territorial waters - there are no international regulations governing air defense zones.
The joint air patrols, which began before Russia sent troops in Ukraine and Beijing and Moscow declared a "borderless" partnership, were the result of an expansion of bilateral relations built in part on mutual threats from the United States (US) and other military alliances.
During a May 2022 patrol, Chinese and Russian warplanes approached Japanese airspace as Tokyo hosted a Quad summit with the leaders of the US, India and Australia, worrying Japan though China said the flights were not directed at a third party. China's increased military behavior in the region has coincided with increased military maneuvers and exercises by the US and its allies in the region.
Since last week, the US, Japanese and Philippine coast guards have held their first trilateral naval exercises in the South China Sea.
The United States said on Monday that recent encounters between US and Chinese troops in the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea reflected increased aggressiveness by Beijing's military that increased the risk of a mistake where "someone could get hurt."
Over the weekend, a Chinese warship came within 137 meters of a US destroyer while the US and Canadian navies conducted joint exercises in the sensitive Taiwan Strait, sparking complaints about the safety of the maneuvers. Shortly before that, a video showed a Chinese fighter jet passing in front of the nose of the US plane with the RC-135 cockpit shaking in the turbulence caused by the flight.