China and Russia conducted a joint naval operation near US territory earlier this week, triggering a major response from the US Navy, Fox News Digital has learned.
The joint operation, conducted by two significant American adversaries, consisted of 11 ships and was near the southwest coast of Alaska, according to Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, was briefed on the matter earlier this week by US defense officials. Sullivan said the US Navy eventually mobilized four destroyers to guide the Chinese and Russian ships out of American waters.
“This is unprecedented in terms of the size and scope of a joint naval task force between Russia and China, working very closely together,” Sullivan told Fox News Digital in a phone interview on Saturday “Whether you live in Alaska like I do, or on the East Coast of the United States, a massive task force surface action between our two main adversaries, the scrutiny close to the shores of the United States is concerning.”
“It just reinforces this idea that we’ve entered a new era of authoritarian aggression led by dictators in Beijing and Moscow who are increasingly aggressive,” he continued.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping shake hands in Moscow, Russia, on March 21. (Mikhail Tereshchenko/Sputnik/Kremlin Pool Photo)
The Wall Street Journal first reported the joint Chinese and Russian operation on Saturday.
In addition to the four destroyers mobilized, the US also sent P-8 Poseidon aircraft to shadow Chinese and Russian ships off the coast of Alaska, according to The Wall Street Journal. The ships were near the Aleutian Islands, but did not enter US territory.
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Sullivan added that the American response was vastly improved compared to a similar, albeit smaller, incident that occurred in September. The US sent a lone Coast Guard cutter after it spotted a Chinese guided missile cruiser along with two other Chinese ships and four Russian ships about 90 miles north of the Aleutian Islands in September. 19, 2022.
“We’ve ramped that up significantly. Four US destroyers and air assets, P-8’s, tracking and monitoring this large-scale Russian-Chinese task force. So that’s a significant improvement,” Sullivan said. “There is so much naval power here that shows the determination of the American people.”
Warships belonging to the Chinese Navy took part in a joint naval exercise in the East China Sea on Dec. 21, 2022, with Russian naval ships. (Li Yun/Xinhua via Getty Images)
“I will continue to press — even the Obama administration, the Trump administration, the Biden administration now — to create more Naval, Coast Guard and Marine presence and assets in this part of America,” he added. “And more broadly the Biden administration needs to get serious about a serious, robust defense budget.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Pentagon referred Fox News Digital to the US Northern Command which also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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“This is a historic first,” Brent Sadler, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, told The Wall Street Journal. “Given the context of the war in Ukraine and tensions around Taiwan, this step is highly provocative.”
