The Chinese military will fly to Russia at the end of the month to participate in joint military drills, according to Beijing's defense ministry.
Beijing and Moscow have close defense ties, and China has expressed a desire to take bilateral relations "to a higher level" despite international sanctions and worldwide condemnation for Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
Moscow stated last month its intention to conduct "Vostok" (East) military exercises from August 30 to September 5, stating that certain unnamed foreign forces will also participate.
The Chinese defense ministry said in a statement that the objective is to "deepen practical and friendly cooperation with the armies of participating countries, enhance the level of close alliances among the involved parties, and strengthen the ability to respond to various security threats."
It is stated that India, Belarus, Mongolia, and Tajikistan will also participate.
Under Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, relations between Russia and China have grown increasingly tight, and Beijing has been under fire for its resistance to sanctions implemented by many Western nations in response to the war.
Before the invasion, Moscow and Beijing agreed to a partnership with "no bounds."
Beijing stated that its participation in the joint drills had nothing to do with the current world and regional circumstances.
More than 10,000 troops participated in Russia and China joint military drills in north-central China one year ago this month. Sergei Shoigu, the Russian minister of defense, lauded the exercises in China's Ningxia and indicated they may be expanded.
Russia and China conducted coordinated naval exercises in the Sea of Japan in October. After many days, Russian and Chinese warships conducted their first patrols together in the western Pacific.
The following month, South Korea's military said that it had scrambled fighter jets in response to the incursion of two Chinese and seven Russian warplanes into its air defense identification zone during what Beijing described as routine training.
Vostok is the second joint military exercise undertaken this year by Chinese and Russian forces.
In May, bombers from the two nations conducted a 13-hour exercise close to Japan and South Korea, prompting those nations to scramble jet fighters during the visit of U.S. President Joe Biden to Tokyo.
Ned Price, a spokesperson for the Department of State, stated that while warming relations between China and Russia threaten global security, Washington does not "read anything" into the exercises.
