West's 'double standard'

NEW DELHI: China and Russia together are formidable and unbeatable, so any third country seeking dominance over the West Pacific should think twice, China's state-run media warned, in the context of the two countries' ongoing joint military drills.The Joint Sea-2016 drill between China and Russia started on Monday on the South China Sea . "Countries such as the US and Japan have been extremely sensitive (about the drills). Let them be," the Chinese government run Global Times said in an editorial."The US and Japan have burnt their own fingers," it added.The joint drills feature naval surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, ship-borne helicopters, marine corps and amphibious armoured equipment from both navies. In addition, " island seizing " activities, including anti-submarine operations, will feature alongside live fire drills and island defence. "It is undoubtedly a joint exercise of great scale and depth," the editorial said.Then comes the editorial's warning: "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."The Chinese state-run news outlet further criticized what it sees as a double standard in the way the West is looking at these joint drills. The article said the drills are not that different from the ones done by other countries in other waters.In fact, the "US often sends warships to exercise the so-called freedom of navigation." Therefore, if the US is sensitive about the China-Russia drill, it says more about its own intentions than China's or Russia's, the editorial said.The editorial also warned that if Washington keeps putting pressure on China and Russia', their mutual support will only increase."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," the editorial concluded.