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Foreign forces laud PLA war games
By Li Xiang (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-09-26 07:53 ZHURIHE, Inner Mongolia - As the Blue Force seized the high ground on both sides, trapping the Red Army between them, John Schurtz, a military attach at the US Embassy in Beijing felt his heart pounding. "Today is a good day to be the blue commander. Deployment is now very difficult for the red to move the enemy off the high ground, and they are in a lot of trouble," Schurtz said.
He made the comments while observing a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) military exercise on the Inner Mongolia autonomous region's seemingly boundless steppe. Schurtz was among 110 international military officers from 36 countries invited by the Ministry of National Defense to observe the final maneuver of the month-long PLA military exercise, which ended on Thursday Codenamed "Warrior 2008", the war games involved more than 5000 troops from the Beijing and Jinan Military Area Command and the PLA Air Force. The main objective was training and testing command and combat capabilities. The exercise is an important multinational military exchange with the largest number, and highest level, of foreign observers invited to date, said Geng Yansheng, deputy head of the foreign affairs office of the Ministry of National Defense. "It was not preplanned. Both the defensive and offensive forces deployed their own tactics without the interference from the directing department. So it demonstrates the true quality and capability of our troops," Geng said. It also showed China's sincere hope of strengthening friendly exchanges and cooperation with foreign military forces, he added. Indian Lieutenant General Baljit Jaswal said the opportunity to observe the exercise helped him learn more about the Chinese military and also helped the two countries build confidence and mutual trust. "We're all looking for peaceful coexistence. The exercise is a very good thing, because it gives us more insight to each other's doctrine and position," Jaswal said. German Brigadier General Peter Goebel said the invitation of foreign observers is a positive step by China to increase military transparency. "China is an evolving power with a big army. We are all interested in what China is doing. So I think it's a step in the right direction," Goebel said. In recent years, China has actively engaged military exchanges and cooperation with foreign military forces. It held the "Peace Mission 2007" joint military exercise with Russia last year - the first time China conducted war games on Russian soil. China also recently reached an agreement with the US on a joint military exercise involving simulated natural disasters to run next year. |
