When Russian and Chinese jets violated Japanese airspace last month, many assumed that the actions were coordinated. A pillar of the “partnership without limits” that the two countries share is expanded military cooperation, and the two militaries have been exercising together with increasing frequency around the globe.
Widening cooperation is the clearest sign of the durability of that partnership. The invasion of Ukraine, once thought to be a strain in China-Russia relations, has proven to be a centripetal force that pushes the two countries closer together. There are issues that may eventually erode the China-Russia relationship, but they are overshadowed by global dynamics that align the two governments. They will persist for the foreseeable future.
A Russian plane entered Japan’s airspace three times last month. While each incursion was on the same day and they all lasted just a minute or less, Japan scrambled Air Self-Defense Force fighters and, after the third incident, fired warning flares for the first time ever after radio warnings were ignored. It was the first announced incursion of Japanese airspace by a Russian aircraft since June 2019.
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