Beijing has been increasing its military cooperation with Moscow, and has been taking part in the multinational “Vostok 2020” drills in Russia’s far east since late August. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno criticized the exercises on the disputed islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories, in the Kuril chain off Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido. He said Japan’s Defense Ministry spotted six Russian and Chinese warships firing machine guns into the Sea of Japan about 190 kilometers (118 miles) west of Cape Kamui on Hokkaido on Saturday. “Japan will continue to monitor the movements of these ships with…