China and Russia Team Up to Provoke U.S. in Alaskan Waters – Watch

China and Russia have sent a joint flotilla of warships near the coast of Alaska, prompting a strong response from the United States.

The flotilla, which included 11 ships, was spotted by the U.S. Coast Guard in the Bering Sea on Tuesday. The ships were sailing in international waters, but their close proximity to Alaska was seen as a provocation by the U.S. government.

In response, the U.S. Navy dispatched four destroyers to the area to monitor the Chinese and Russian ships. The destroyers were accompanied by a P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft.

“It is a historical first,” senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Brent Sadler, said. “Given the context of the war in Ukraine and tensions around Taiwan, this move is highly provocative.”\

“Air and maritime assets under our commands conducted operations to assure the defense of the United States and Canada,” a U.S. Northern Command statement said. “The patrol remained in international waters and was not considered a threat.”

A Chinese embassy spokesman told the outlet the patrol and its location was “not targeted at any third party and has nothing to do with the current international and regional situation.”

Sullivan called the move “unprecedented” and “concerning,” adding, “It just solidifies this idea that we’ve entered a new era of authoritarian aggression led by the dictators in Beijing and Moscow who are increasingly aggressive.”

Sullivan called the U.S. response a “significant improvement” over the “tepid” American response to a smaller flotilla in September. That fleet got 90 miles from the Aleutians and consisted of seven Russian and Chinese ships, Fox News reported. In response, the U.S. dispatched one Coast Guard cutter.

“We ramped that up significantly. Four U.S. destroyers and air assets, P-8’s, that were tracking and monitoring this large-scale Russian-Chinese task force quite closely. So that is a significant improvement,” Sullivan said of the recent incursion and American response. “That’s a lot of naval power up here demonstrating American resolve.”

China, Russia send naval warships near Alaska, triggering forceful US response https://t.co/kcBjegrYhL

— Fox News (@FoxNews) August 6, 2023