As their warships encircle Japan, what signals are China and Russia sending?

The pair aim to show they aren’t boxed in by the first island chain and that Moscow can project power despite the Ukraine war

The recent joint patrol between China and Russia around the Japanese archipelago showed how the nations’ military cooperation was becoming “progressively more ambitious”, analysts said.

The Japanese defence ministry revealed on Tuesday that three Chinese naval vessels – Type 055 and Type 052D missile destroyers alongside a Type 903 support ship – were spotted moving southwest through the Korea Strait between Sunday and Monday.

The ministry said that Maritime Self-Defence Force vessels and patrol aircraft conducted surveillance and intelligence-gathering operations along the route taken by the Chinese naval ships.

The manoeuvre followed the recent conclusion of a 17-day China-Russia joint patrol.

According to a map posted to social media by the Japanese defence ministry, the Chinese and Russian naval vessels transited through the Miyako Strait near Okinawa on July 16. They then sailed near the Ogasawara Islands and through the waters south and east of Japan before finally reaching the La Perouse Strait between Hokkaido and Russia’s Sakhalin Island on July 27.

This means that, including their passage through the Korea Strait, the Chinese warships conducted a full circuit around Japan.