China is flexing some naval and diplomatic muscle off the southern coast of Africa just as tensions with the U.S. deepen on a range of fronts.
On Friday, Chinese, Russian and South African warships kicked off a 10-day joint exercise in the Indian Ocean. The “Mosi 2” trilateral drills off South Africa run through Feb. 27, according to Moscow’s official TASS news agency. China is sending a destroyer, a frigate and a support ship, South Africa is deploying a frigate and two support ships, and Russia is drilling a frigate and a tanker.
Though there is no formal alliance binding them, China’s and Russia’s armed forces have been conducting a range of joint drills since the early 2000s. The willingness of South Africa to participate despite friction in East Asia and Ukraine has caused some consternation and grumbling in the U.S. and Western Europe, as well as from domestic critics of the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa.
China’s rapidly expanding People’s Liberation Army Navy, or PLAN, is keen to demonstrate that it is a blue-ocean fleet with wide-ranging capabilities and partners. While the U.S. boasts a global web of bases, Beijing came late to the party: It opened its first overseas base, in Djibouti in northeastern Africa, in 2017. Beijing has, however, won a string of global infrastructure projects with its Belt and Road initiative, establishing especially deep footprints across Africa.
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