The Joint Sea-2016 drill between China and Russia started on Monday in the South China Sea. It features naval surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, ship-borne helicopters, marine corps and amphibious armored equipment from both navies. “Island seizing” activities, including anti-submarine operations, will feature alongside live fire drills and island defense. It is undoubtedly a joint exercise of great scale and depth,  said a Global Times editorial posted on Monday.

China and Russia have announced that the drill does not target a third party, but countries such as the US and Japan have been extremely sensitive. Let them be. Joint exercises between China and Russia have been conducted in various waters such as the East China Sea and the Sea of Japan, while this is the first time the drills are conducted in the South China Sea. It was arranged long ago, and just happens to follow the South China Sea arbitration. The US and Japan have burnt their own fingers.The Sino-Russian comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination is partly attributed to the US which keeps strategically squeezing the two countries. The joint drills by the two in the South China Sea do not differ much from the ones in the other waters.

However, the US often sends warships to exercise the so-called freedom of navigation, and has tried to woo Japan and Australia to participate in an international patrol in the South China Sea. Under such circumstances, they inevitably view the China-Russia drills as a means to counter US influence in the region.

Both China and Russia are major powers. They are partners rather than allies, and they are deepening cooperation in politics and military. The move is driven by their own strategic security need and does not necessarily target any other country. Such a major power relationship has taken into consideration the feeling of their neighboring countries.

Whenever the US and its allies impose pressure on either Beijing or Moscow, they will feel the resilience of their comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination. Although the two have reiterated that they will not form an alliance, the West has viewed the two as quasi-allies, and is speculating how far their mutual military support can go.

So far, China and Russia have shown their confidence in coping with military threats alone and their mutual support has consolidated such confidence. As Washington and its allies put mounting pressure on China and Russia, this mutual support will enhance as a result.

Both China and Russia are nuclear powers. If the two cannot safeguard their own security or maintain their strategic space for survival and development, the 21st century will be filled with darkness and horror.

As long as a third country has no ulterior motives, it has no reason to worry about the Sino-Russian drills. If some country is to seek global hegemony and dominate the West Pacific, it should think twice, as China or Russia is hard to deal with individually, let alone together.