This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The People's Republic of China's Defense Ministry announced Monday the Chinese Navy and Air Force will be conducting "Northern/Interaction-2024," which are joint military exercises with Russian forces which will take place in the Sea of Japan, and the Sea of Okhotsk this month.
"The exercise aims to deepen the level of strategic coordination between the Chinese and Russian militaries and enhance their abilities to jointly respond to security threats," the announcement states.
Since Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2021, China has quickly become one of Russia's largest purchasers of oil and gas, in return supplying electronics that provide multiple uses for both citizens and military applications.
China is currently at odds with several of its neighbors, including Taiwan, over which China is attempting to claim dominion, stating the self-governed island nation historically belongs under the yolk of China. Beijing has repeatedly hinted it will not hesitate to use force, and has threatened multiple times to invade Taiwan.
China further lays claim to the Taiwan Strait between China and Taiwan, a narrow body of water that separates Taiwan from mainland China, and is considered by every country apart from China as international waters.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a news conference in late August China will not tolerate any outside "provocations by countries that jeopardize China's sovereignty and security under the banner of freedom of navigation."
Furthermore, Chinese relations with the Philippines have continued to deteriorate after China has claimed almost all of the South China Sea as its own. The oil-rich fishing grounds, within the Philippines economic exclusion zone known as the Sabina Shoal, has become synonymous for conflict between the Philippines and Chinese Coast Guard vessels.
Chinese spokesperson Sen. Col. Wu stated at the end of August, that China has sovereignty over the area, and the Philippines should vacate after being illegally anchored at the shoal for months.
"Since its intrusion this April, the PCG vessel 9701 has illegally anchored in the lagoon of Xianbin Jiao. Such an act seriously violated China's sovereignty, breached international law and the stipulations of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC), and undermined regional peace and stability," Wu said, adding the Philippines are "opening a Pandora's Box."
Malaysia has also been warned by Beijing to cease all oil and gas exploration in the Sarawak waters, located in the South China Sea – over 2,000 kilometers from mainland China. Chinese warships have also been spotted in Malaysian waters, loitering near oil rigs.
China was caught out in 2023, patrolling within Malaysia's exclusive economic zone in an attempt to exert dominance.
Meanwhile, Chinese officials insist a modern China is an opportunity for the U.S., not a threat, according to comments made by China's Ministry of Commerce vice minister Wang Shouwen during trade talks in Tianjin on Saturday.
Steve Yates, a senior fellow and AFPI China Policy Initiative chair, told Dana Loesch during an interview Monday that the real threat to America is coming from China by way of the fentanyl epidemic.
"Russia is a problem, it is a national security challenge in many different ways, but is Russia killing hundreds of thousands of Americans now before our eyes? No. That's the People's Republic of China, sending those precursor chemicals," Yates told Loesch.
Yates pointed out it is China, not Russia that is actively trying to shape the U.S. from the inside out, including positioning Chinese nationals into government offices.
"So, we've got an active human campaign where they're putting people in positions of influence and exercising it, shaping everything from Wall Street, to state government, to apparently the United States Senate from time to time, and they're killing American families and communities," Yates said.
