Kathianne
08-06-2023, 02:05 AM
Hmmm, Ukraine/Taiwan neither warrants good intentions:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-and-china-sent-large-naval-patrol-near-alaska-127de28b?st=dizj44g8nz8bw7x&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
NATIONAL SECURITY
Russia and China Sent Large Naval Patrol Near Alaska
Four U.S. destroyers were dispatched to monitor Russian and Chinese ships
By Michael R. Gordon and Nancy A. Youssef Updated Aug. 5, 2023 10:15 pm ET
A combined Russian and Chinese naval force patrolled near the coast of Alaska earlier this week in what U.S. experts said appeared to be the largest such flotilla to approach American shores.
Eleven Russian and Chinese ships steamed close to the Aleutian Islands, according to U.S. officials. The ships, which never entered U.S. territorial waters and have since left, were shadowed by four U.S. destroyers and P-8 Poseidon aircraft.
“It is a historical first,” said Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a retired Navy captain. “Given the context of the war in Ukraine and tensions around Taiwan, this move is highly provocative.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Northern Command confirmed that Russia and China had carried out a combined naval patrol near Alaska, but didn’t specify the number of ships or their precise location.
“Air and maritime assets under our commands conducted operations to assure the defense of the United States and Canada. The patrol remained in international waters and was not considered a threat,” the command said in a statement.
...
The USS John S. McCain, the USS Benfold, the USS John Finn and the USS Chung-Hoon responded to the flotilla, tracking its movement, a U.S. defense official said. The four destroyers were in addition to the American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft.
In contrast, a lone U.S. Coast Guard cutter was on the scene when a flotilla of seven Russian and Chinese ships operated in September near the Aleutians off Alaska.
...
Adm. John Aquilino, who leads U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the Asia Pacific, said last month that the U.S. had already begun watching the current Russian and Chinese patrol and was trying to determine whether they were headed to the Aleutian Islands, Philippine Sea, Guam or Hawaii.
Joint Russian and Chinese “exercises have increased, their operations have increased. I only see the cooperation getting stronger, and boy that’s concerning. That’s a dangerous world,” Aquilino said last month while speaking at the Aspen Security Forum.
While the Pentagon’s latest defense strategy casts China as the principal long-term threat to the U.S. it also describes Russia as an “acute threat” to Washington and its allies.
U.S. officials have been closely monitoring signs of increased cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.
China has become Russia’s most important trading partner since Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and a July report by the U.S. director for national intelligence says China has provided Russia with critical technology that can be used for military and civilian purposes.
But Biden administration officials say there is no indication that China has sent lethal military aid to Moscow for its war in Ukraine.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-and-china-sent-large-naval-patrol-near-alaska-127de28b?st=dizj44g8nz8bw7x&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink
WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
NATIONAL SECURITY
Russia and China Sent Large Naval Patrol Near Alaska
Four U.S. destroyers were dispatched to monitor Russian and Chinese ships
By Michael R. Gordon and Nancy A. Youssef Updated Aug. 5, 2023 10:15 pm ET
A combined Russian and Chinese naval force patrolled near the coast of Alaska earlier this week in what U.S. experts said appeared to be the largest such flotilla to approach American shores.
Eleven Russian and Chinese ships steamed close to the Aleutian Islands, according to U.S. officials. The ships, which never entered U.S. territorial waters and have since left, were shadowed by four U.S. destroyers and P-8 Poseidon aircraft.
“It is a historical first,” said Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation and a retired Navy captain. “Given the context of the war in Ukraine and tensions around Taiwan, this move is highly provocative.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Northern Command confirmed that Russia and China had carried out a combined naval patrol near Alaska, but didn’t specify the number of ships or their precise location.
“Air and maritime assets under our commands conducted operations to assure the defense of the United States and Canada. The patrol remained in international waters and was not considered a threat,” the command said in a statement.
...
The USS John S. McCain, the USS Benfold, the USS John Finn and the USS Chung-Hoon responded to the flotilla, tracking its movement, a U.S. defense official said. The four destroyers were in addition to the American maritime patrol and reconnaissance aircraft.
In contrast, a lone U.S. Coast Guard cutter was on the scene when a flotilla of seven Russian and Chinese ships operated in September near the Aleutians off Alaska.
...
Adm. John Aquilino, who leads U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the Asia Pacific, said last month that the U.S. had already begun watching the current Russian and Chinese patrol and was trying to determine whether they were headed to the Aleutian Islands, Philippine Sea, Guam or Hawaii.
Joint Russian and Chinese “exercises have increased, their operations have increased. I only see the cooperation getting stronger, and boy that’s concerning. That’s a dangerous world,” Aquilino said last month while speaking at the Aspen Security Forum.
While the Pentagon’s latest defense strategy casts China as the principal long-term threat to the U.S. it also describes Russia as an “acute threat” to Washington and its allies.
U.S. officials have been closely monitoring signs of increased cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.
China has become Russia’s most important trading partner since Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and a July report by the U.S. director for national intelligence says China has provided Russia with critical technology that can be used for military and civilian purposes.
But Biden administration officials say there is no indication that China has sent lethal military aid to Moscow for its war in Ukraine.