By Aaron Miller-
Four navy warships, along with a reconnaissance aeroplane, were dispatched by the United States after a joint naval patrol was carried out by multiple Chinese and Russian military vessels near Alaska last week.
The navy warships sent by the US, in response to the Chinese and Russian flotilla, were made up of four destroyers and a Poseidon P-8 patrol aeroplane. The report stated that the US Navy had dispatched four destroyers to tackle the approaching naval force, which it claimed was the largest flotilla to approach the US maritime borders in a long time.
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First reported by The Wall Street Journal, it stated that the formation consisted of 11 Chinese and Russian ships. American politicians have reportedly confirmed this number.
The spokesperson of the Chinese embassy in Washington DC, Liu Pengyu, in a statement to the Journal, said that the patrol “is not targeted at any third party”.
“According to the annual cooperation plan between the Chinese and Russian militaries, naval vessels of the two countries have recently conducted joint maritime patrols in relevant waters in the western and northern Pacific Ocean,” said Pengyu. “This action is not targeted at any third party and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation,” he added.
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Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a retired Navy captain, told WSJ, “It is a historical first. Given the context of the Ukraine war and Taiwan tension, this move is highly provocative.”
Alaska senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan said that they are monitoring the situation after joint Chinese and Russian patrol came close to the Aleutian Islands. “We have been in close contact with leadership … for several days now and received detailed classified briefings about the foreign vessels that are transiting US waters in the Aleutians,” Murkowski said while speaking to the Wall Street Journal.
“This is a stark reminder of Alaska’s proximity to both China and Russia, as well as the essential role our state plays in our national defence and territorial sovereignty,” he added.
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