RUSSIAN warships will join elements of China’s navy in military exercises in the South China Sea next month as tensions continue to rise over Beijing’s territorial claims.

Russia’s Pacific Fleet and elements of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy will engage in manoeuvres designed to test tactics and equipment in amphibious troop landings and defensive operations in the disputed waterway.

The September exercise, named Joint Sea 2016, is the fifth time the two nations have conducted such joint naval operations.

It comes amid heightened tensions in the region after an international court of arbitration in The Hague last month rejected Beijing’s claims to sovereignty over virtually the entire South China Sea as illegal. Since immediately before the ruling, China has staged an almost continuous series of live-fire naval and air exercises — some involving more than 300 ships — in and around the region.

The last joint exercise with Russia was conducted in May 2015, in the Mediterranean Sea off the Syrian coast as well as the Sea of Japan.

“This is a routine exercise between the two armed forces, aimed at strengthening the developing China-Russia strategic cooperative partnership,” Beijing’s defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told media. “The exercise is not directed against third parties.”

He said the joint operation was to improve both nations’ abilities to respond to maritime threats.

Exactly where in the South China Sea the exercise is set to take place is unknown. Not all of the expansive waterway between China, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines is contested, however.

TESTING TIMES

Moscow has been actively strengthening its ties with China since a cooling of relations with the West after its invasion of Crimea and barely concealed active support of separatist forces in neighbouring Ukraine.

Beijing’s own relations with the West have soured significantly since it was discovered to be building artificial islands as naval an air bases in several regions also claimed by the likes of the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam. While the international court of arbitration in The Hague has rejected China’s territorial claims as illegal, Russia supports them.

Also in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to be invited to the G20 summit of the world’s top economies in China as Beijing’s guest of honour. Putin clashed with the annual meeting of key economic ministers and leaders in 2014.

A bomber squadron with the East #China Sea Fleet recently conducted a long-range combat drill in the Sea of Japan. pic.twitter.com/SRutJFA30O — China Plus News (@ChinaPlusNews) August 22, 2016

Both Russia and China hold veto powers as members of the UN Security Council.

Earlier this month, a US White House spokesman sought to play down the significance of the planned exercise.

“I don’t know what exercises they are planning, but in the same way the United States and China have a military-to-military relationship, I’m not surprised that Russia and China are seeking to build upon their military-to-military relationship as well,” he said.

“We’re not concerned about the safety of US vessels in the region as long as interactions with the Chinese remain safe and professional, which has been the case in most cases.”