Russia and China sent large naval patrol near Alaska

Four American destroyers were dispatched to monitor Russian and Chinese ships.

The Russian and Chinese ships were shadowed by four US destroyers and P-8 Poseidon aircraft. Picture: Reuters

A combined Russian and Chinese naval force patrolled near the coast of Alaska last week in what US experts said appeared to be the largest such flotilla to approach American shores.

Eleven Russian and Chinese ships steamed close to the Aleutian Islands, US officials said.

The ships, which never entered US territorial waters and have since left, were shadowed by four US destroyers and P-8 Poseidon aircraft.

“It is a historical first,” said retired navy captain Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation.

“Given the context of the war in Ukraine and tensions around Taiwan, this move is highly provocative.”

A US Northern Command spokesman confirmed that Russia and China had carried out a combined naval patrol near Alaska, but did not specify the number of ships or their precise location.

“Air and maritime assets under our commands conducted operations to assure the defence of the United States and Canada. The patrol remained in international waters and was not considered a threat,” the command said.

Dan Sullivan of Alaska, a Republican member of the Senate armed services committee, said the patrol was a reminder that the US has entered “a new era of authoritarian aggression” and applauded the robust US response.

The USS John S. McCain, USS Benfold, USS John Finn and USS Chung-Hoon responded to the flotilla, tracking its movement. In contrast, a lone US Coast Guard cutter was on the scene when a flotilla of seven Russian and Chinese ships operated in September near the Aleutians off Alaska.

Senator Sullivan said that the US response in September had been “tepid” and that he had encouraged a stronger message be sent in the future.

The joint Russian and Chinese naval patrols are part of a broader great power competition in the Arctic, which is increasingly becoming contested territory.

US officials also see the increased co-operation between the Russian and Chinese navies as a bid to counter US alliances with Japan, South Korea and other regional partners.

Russian warships and Chinese research vessels have been observed in the Arctic region before.

“But to see these combatants form up in a surface action group together and steam together, that’s what’s rare,” Rear Admiral Nathan Moore, who was Coast Guard commander for the Alaska region until last month, said about the September episode.

Admiral John Aquilino, who leads US Indo-Pacific Command, said last month that the US 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.

Admiral Aquilino told the Aspen Security Forum that joint Russian and Chinese exercises “have increased, their operations have increased”.

“I only see the co-operation getting stronger, and boy that’s concerning. That’s a dangerous world,” he said.

While the Pentagon’s latest defence strategy casts China as the principal long-term threat to the US it also describes Russia as an “acute threat” to Washington and its allies. US officials have been closely monitoring signs of increased co-operation 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 US 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.

The Wall Street Journal