China and Russia have grown closer in the face of shared anger at the US. Western sanctions hit Russia hard after President Vladimir Putin gave the green light for the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, and US trade war chaos has left an economic dent in China’s ambitions.
This has made Russia and China more dependent on each other, strengthening trade and military ties to fend off US hostility.
In September 2016, China and Russia embarked on joint exercises flaunting the military prowess of both nations in a defiant challenge to the US in the South China Sea.
They were the fifth Beijing-Moscow exercises in four years, signifying a growing threat for US Navy in the region as it looks to thwart China’s accelerating militarisation of island clusters and dominance over trade.
The exercises featured naval surface ships, submarines, fixed-wing aircraft, ship-borne helicopters, marine corps, and amphibious armoured equipment from both navies.
But other developments in the region could indicate that Russia and China ultimately have differing outlooks on the South China Sea, which could cause political uproar.
China has clashed on multiple occasions with smaller nations in the South China Sea region, none more so that Vietnam and the Philippines.
But Russia has grown close ties with Beijing’s two rivals and is being aided by both Manila and Hanoi in its own exploration of resource rich areas of the contested region.
In October, President in the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte invited Moscow-based energy company Rosneft to conduct oil and gas exploration in waters claimed by Manila.
READ MORE: South China Sea standoff: US vs China naval power compared
Russia and Vietnam also elevated their bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2012, National Interest reports.
Even more worrying for Beijing is Rosneft’s exploration in waters claimed by Vietnam, which is also contested by China.
Vietnam has been particularly difficult for China to contend with, being the only smaller nation to put up substantial resistance to China’s encroachment.
Earlier this year, Beijing and Hanoi were embroiled in a three months long standoff as Chinese oil vessel – Haiyang Dizhi 8 – remained in Vietnam’s economic exclusion zone.
Russian exploration breaks the conditions set by China that ‘no country, organisation, company or individual can, without the permission of the Chinese government, carry out oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities in waters under Chinese jurisdiction’.