China-Russia military drill held alongside US peacekeeping exercise
Staff Reporter 2013-08-06 12:32
PLA soldiers arrive at the Chebarkulsky range on Aug. 3. (Photo/CNS)
As the People's Liberation Army arrived at the Chebarkulsky range in Russia's Ural Mountains region to conduct Peace Mission 2013, a joint anti-terrorism military exercise, a multinational peacekeeping exercise led by the United States is also taking place in Mongolia, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.
The China-Russia joint military drill will take place in both the Shenyang military area command of the PLA and the Chebarkulsky range from July 27 to Aug. 15. It is divided into three phases — troop deployment, battle planning and simulated combat. During the first phase of the exercise, the PLA will demonstrate its capability to deploy 646 military personnel and equipment 5,040 kilometers away from the homeland. Geng Yansheng, a spokesperson for the Chinese defense ministry, said that the Chinese troops deployed to Russia will be equipped with various models of armed vehicles, self-propelled guns, as well as fixed-wing and rotating-wing aircraft.
A total number of 1,500 military personnel from both nations will also be mobilized for the anti-terrorism exercise. The exercise aims to boost cooperation between China and Russia to maintain regional stability and comes hot off the heals of the Maritime Cooperation 2013, a joint naval exercise held at Peter the Great Gulf near Russia's port city of Vladivostok last month between July 5-12.
Running simultaneously to the China-Russia joint military drill is a peacekeeping exercise called Khaan Quest 2013 held by the United States and its allies at Tavan Tolgoi training area located at in Tuv Aimag in Mongolia from Aug. 3-15. The annual exercise was first held in 2003 to symbolize the partnership of the United States and Mongolia in the global war on terrorism. Beside the United States and Mongolia, countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK, Japan, India, Indonesia, Nepal, South Korea, Tajikistan and Vietnam will also participate.
According to the Duowei report, China, Russia and the United States are competing to expand their sphere of influence in Northeast Asia through launching multiple exercises with their own allies.
