The Diplomat:
China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and the Russian Navy began a six-day joint naval exercise, codenamed Joint Sea 2019, in the port city of Qingdao on China’s Yellow Sea coast on April 29. Joint Sea 2019 is the latest iteration of an annual naval exercise between the PLAN and Russian Navy that has been taking place since 2012.
This year’s drill is reportedly split into two parts, with the shore part of the exercise conducted from April 29 to 30, while the sea component is set to take place from May 1 to 4 in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea.
On the PLAN side, the drill involves a submarine, two-guided missile destroyers, three-guided missile frigates, and a submarine rescue ship. Russia has dispatched elements of its Pacific Fleet to the exercise including a Steregushchiy-class frigate, a Slava-class guided missile cruiser, a Ropucha-class large landing ship, an Igor Belousov-class maritime search-and-rescue support vessel, and a Kilo-class diesel-electric attack submarine.
