China, Russia launch joint air patrol, alarms South Korea

• China and Russia conducted a joint air patrol on 6 Jun over the Sea of Japan and East China Sea for a sixth time since 2019, prompting neighbouring South Korea and Japan to scramble fighter jets.
• China’s defence ministry said the patrol was part of the two militaries’ annual cooperation plan. South Korea scrambled fighter jets, according to its military, after four Russian and four Chinese military aircraft entered its air defence zone in the south and east of the Korean peninsula.
• Japan’s military said it had scrambled fighter jets after verifying that two Russian bombers had joined two Chinese bombers over the Sea of Japan and flown together as far as the East China Sea, where they were joined by two Chinese fighter planes.
• In China’s last joint aerial patrol with Russia in Nov 22, South Korea also scrambled fighter jets after Chinese H-6K bombers and Russian TU-95 bombers and SU-35 fighter jets entered its Air Defence Identification Zone (KADIZ).
• Japan similarly scrambled jets when Chinese bombers and two Russian drones flew into the Sea of Japan.

External Link : https://www.reuters.com/world/china-russia-launch-joint-air-patrol-amid-asia-pacific-tensions-2023-06-06/