China, Russia Start Naval Drills, Days After NATO Says Beijing Enables Ukraine War

Chinese and Russian naval forces on July 14 kicked off a joint exercise at a military port in southern China, the official news agency Xinhua reported, days after NATO allies called Beijing a "decisive enabler" of the war in Ukraine. China's Defense Ministry said in a brief statement that forces from both sides recently patrolled the western and northern Pacific Ocean and that the operation had nothing to do with international and regional situations and didn't target any third party. Xinhua reported that Chinese and Russian naval forces carried out on-map military simulation and tactical coordination exercises after the opening ceremony in the city of Zhanjiang.