Sino-Russian drill set to guard regional peace

The upcoming joint military exercise between China and Russia, dubbed Vostok-2018 or East-2018, will strengthen their abilities to jointly deal with different types of security threats and safeguard regional peace and security, China's Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday.

Experts said the joint exercise reflects the deep strategic mutual trust and practical cooperation between the two militaries, but it does not mean the two sides have formed a defense alliance that excludes or targets other countries.

Senior Colonel Wu Qian, a spokesman for the ministry, said at a regular monthly news briefing that most of the 3,200 Chinese troops, along with more than 900 pieces of weaponry and 30 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, have entered Russia to take part in the exercise.