Russia and China threaten free shipping around the world, expert says

The aggressive policies of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China, as well as the inaction of the United States, can lead to serious challenges for international maritime traffic.

If Russia gains the upper hand in the war against Ukraine, this can create a threat to freedom of navigation around the world. This opinion was expressed by the executive director of the Center for Defense Strategies, Oleksandr Khara, during the 5th Ukrainian-Japanese Forum organized by the New Europe Center, Ukrinform writes.

“If Russia wins and the United States helps it in Ukraine, we can forget about free navigation,” said the expert on foreign and security policy.

According to him, in addition to Russia, the threat to global maritime security is China, which is actively borrowing Moscow’s aggressive methods.

“We see that China is adopting the practices of the Russian Federation: recently, there were naval exercises of the People’s Republic of China in the exclusive economic zone of Australia. And they didn’t even warn, as it should be, through the International Maritime Organization about what was going to happen there,” Hara noted.

The expert added that such maneuvers regularly take place off the coast of Japan and Taiwan. This forces countries to spend more and more resources on ensuring shipping safety.

In conclusion, Hara emphasized that the world order is collapsing, and “the United States is accelerating this process” with its passive position.

Earlier it was reported that last week the People’s Liberation Army of China conducted surprise exercises near Taiwan, involving 45 aircraft and 15 ships. Taiwan’s defense ministry warned that such actions threaten civilian shipping and air traffic in the region.