BEIJING, Aug 23: Chinese destroyers, submarines and fighter planes were coordinating on Tuesday with a Russian missile destroyer and anti-submarine vessels in ongoing war games simulating a naval blockade, state media said.

A Russian A-50 AWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Control Systems) aircraft circled to monitor ‘enemy’ movements both in the air and at sea as the joint blockade was mounted, China Central Television (CCTV) reported.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov left for China on Tuesday to watch the military exercises, which involve nearly 10,000 personnel from the two nations, Xinhua news agency said, citing Russia’s ITAR-TASS.

Ivanov will watch an exercise simulating an opposed beach landing on Wednesday, a source in the Russian Defence Ministry was quoted as saying.

Xinhua said defence ministers and military experts from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which groups China, Russia and four Central Asian republics, have been invited as observers.

A wide range of modern weaponry is being tested in the eight-day ‘Peace Mission 2005’ exercises, the first major land, sea and air war games jointly carried out by the two nations.

They are currently taking place on eastern China’s Shandong peninsula and in the Yellow Sea.

“The naval blockade military operation is made up of four parts, including striving for and maintaining air superiority over the water and joint air and sea anti-submarine operations,” Xinhua news agency said.

“The third part is the joint submarine, air and warship attack on ‘enemy’ warships and submarines, while the fourth task is the air defence of surface vessels and submarines.”

CCTV video of the exercises showed warships deployed in coastal waters as tracers and smoke from live-fire exercises exploded in the air. The exercises end on Thursday.

Chinese media has said the exercises were taking place against the backdrop of ‘the fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism’ — usually cited by China within the context of its endeavours to control the northwestern region of Xinjiang, home to a Muslim separatist movement.

The war games would also offer a prime opportunity to study China’s ongoing military modernization, analysts said.—AFP