BEIJING, Feb. 23 -- The army of the Chinese PLA Southern Theater Command has dispatched a contingent to participate in the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise, a part of multinational exercise Cobra Gold 2023, in Thailand from February 9 to March 10, said Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, at a regular press conference on Thursday.
According to the spokesperson, since 2014, the PLA Army has been invited to participate in ten continuous iterations of the exercise. He also introduced that the exercise includes engineering assistance, tabletop exercise of HADR and high-level forum, as well as live drills under the scenarios of building collapse, hazardous substances leakage, medical first aid, fire rescue, and so on.
The exercise helps to promote the exchange of experience and practices in rescue and disaster relief between the Chinese and foreign militaries, and further advance their pragmatic cooperation in relevant fields, added the spokesperson.
