UPDATED: Joint Russian and Chinese air patrol heightens tension in Korean peninsula
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Russia has said it carried out its first long-range joint air patrol with China in the Asia-Pacific region, a mission that triggered hundreds of warning shots from South Korean jets and a strong protest from Japan.
The flight by two Russian Tu-95 strategic bombers and two Chinese H-6 bombers, backed up by a Russian A-50 early warning plane and its Chinese counterpart, a KJ-2000, marks a notable ramping-up of military cooperation between Beijing and Moscow.
The operation will concern leaders from Washington to Tokyo and could complicate relations and raise tension in a region that has for years been overshadowed by hostility between the United States and North Korea.
The incident earlier this week between the Russian and South Korean Air Force Russian was the first incident of its kind between Russia and South Korea.
On Wednesday, the South Korean presidential office announced that Russia has said a military jet’s intrusion into South Korean territorial airspace was not intentional.
A Russian military official expressed “deep regret” to the South Korean defence ministry and blamed a technical glitch, South Korea said. This has not been confirmed by Russian officials.
On Tuesday, Seoul said a Russian warplane had twice violated its territorial airspace.
The Russian defence ministry had earlier furiously denied this.
This week a Russian warplane violated South Korean territorial airspace twice and South Korean jets fired flares and machine-gun warning shots when the Russian plane intruded. It also deployed F-15 and F-16 planes to intercept it.
The alleged incursion happened over the disputed Dokdo/Takeshima islands, which are occupied by South Korea but also claimed by Japan.
Japan has protested both to Russia and South Korea over the incident
