Military cooperation between China and Russia is now an emerging factor in the security environment of the Indo-Pacific region. The regular exercises and patrolling missions conducted by them have begun to attract more attention from regional countries due to increasing activities of China at sea and efforts made by Russia to remain militarily present in the Asia-Pacific region.
The current events occur in the context of increasing security concerns in the region. In the Japanese defense white paper published in 2026, China was referred to as the “greatest strategic challenge” of Japan. Furthermore, China’s growing military cooperation with Russia is mentioned in the document.
Thus, what matters is not only the exercises conducted by them but also the question for other Asian countries whether these repeated joint missions are developing their operational synergy and altering the calculations of different countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
Naval drills between China and Russia have taken place for more than ten years, with the size and the geographical scope of some of the drills growing larger from year to year.
For example, their drills under the “Joint Sea” series have involved anti-submarine warfare, air defence, search-and-rescue operations, anti-piracy drills, firing drills and sea replenishment exercises. It has been stated by the Congressional Research Service that the navies of both countries have conducted exercises in sensitive strategic regions, such as South and East China seas and the area around Japan.
This trend is significant as it does not confine itself to only one region. With each year, both China and Russia have shown an ability to conduct joint naval exercises in various maritime environments.
Japan is among those nations most directly impacted by the rising number of naval drills involving China and Russia.
Previous exercises have been conducted at locations which have seen both navies come near the sea approaches of Japan. In April 2026, reports emerged of Russian and Chinese navy groups transiting the southwestern sea region of Japan prior to entering the East China Sea.Â
It is noteworthy that Japan’s current assessment of its security situation has identified increased cooperation between China and Russia as a significant feature. This shows that Japan is gradually treating Sino-Russian military coordination within the broader context of its strategic situation.
Japan does not view China and Russia as forming a military alliance against it. Nevertheless, naval exercises can build up familiarity of operations and Japan has to factor in the potential for coordinated actions from various directions.
The two countries have established a strong strategic bond but have no formal mutual defence treaty similar to that found in alliances such as NATO.
This is an important point. While joint military exercises indicate cooperation and interoperability, it does not necessarily imply that the two countries will be allies in case of a future war.
According to a report issued by the Congressional Research Service, there are shortcomings within the framework of this relationship in that the two military forces are not interoperable and military exercises can be extremely rehearsed.
The true significance of this emerging strategic relationship lies in the establishment of military coordination and signaling.
However, it should be noted that the regional response to this is not identical for all nations. There is an inherent variability in relations with China, Russia and the USA, so the response to Sino-Russian naval cooperation cannot be the same.