Simulated exercise coincides with drills between US, Japan and South Korea
China and Russia have begun a computer-simulated anti-missile exercise in Beijing as the two nations step up preparations against the North Korea nuclear threat.
The six-day joint air force drills are also aimed at countering US alliances developing in East Asia in response to rising tensions on the Korean peninsula, analysts said.
Dubbed Aerospace Security 2017, the exercise started on Monday and follows similar drills held in Russia in May last year.
China’s defence ministry on Monday said the drills were aimed at boosting cooperation against threats from ballistic and cruise missiles in the region. During the drills, the two sides would work together to repel such threats from third countries, the ministry said.
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The exercise coincided with two days of ballistic missile tracking drills and information-sharing between the United States, Japan and South Korea – their sixth such exercise – which also started on Monday.
The drills follow North Korea’s launch of the Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile in late November, which flew higher than any of its previous missile tests and which Pyongyang claimed could strike the US mainland.
Military experts said the drills in Beijing were intended to send a clear message to Pyongyang that China and Russia are preparing for a potential crisis.
