MALAYSIA, Oct. 23 (ChinaMil) – The "Peace and Friendship 2018" joint military drill, involving China, Malaysia and Thailand, is in progress. The coordinators from China, Malaysia and Thailand pointed out that the composite group exercises have consolidated pragmatic exchange and cooperation among the three countries, and are of great significance to strengthening their military responses to regional security threats and to maintain peace.
Major General Li Weiya, exercise coordinator from China, noted, "Peacekeeping operations and compulsory peace operations" are the focus of this joint drill. This year, the composite forces of the three countries will focus on how to face and deal with potential regional crises in order to maintain regional peace and stability.”
Major General Li Weiya said, "When a conflict cannot be resolved by peaceful means, we would use armed forces to jointly implement an operation under the UN authorization. We would resort to force to achieve the goal of an imposed cessation of hostilities, and ultimately contribute to peace and stability."
Compared to the "Peace and Friendship 2016" joint military drill, this year's joint military drill has expanded in terms of the number of subjects and the size of the forces involved. Humanitarian rescue operations have become joint compulsory peace operations.
The coordinator from Malaysian side said that the use of force for compulsory peace operations is often more than peacekeeping operations because it requires sending troops to maintain regional order and stability, with the unanimous approval of the countries concerned.
He declared, "We have a good relationship with China. The Chinese PLA has accumulated experience in military drills and extensive professional knowledge. We can learn a great deal through the joint drill with China and Thailand. It is a great opportunity."
Thailand has participated in the past "Peace and Friendship" series of military exercises as an observer. This year, Thailand sent a coordinator and command departments for the combat planning and commanding drills, as a participating country for the first time.
The coordinator of the Thai side noted that, through the exchange of tactics, experience and culture, the three countries will be able to cooperate better when implementing UN-led joint operations.
He affirmed that this is an exchange of experience, tactics and combat. There are also discussions and exchanges on other aspects of the drill, which benefit Thailand, China and Malaysia.
Chinese Major General Li Weiya added, “The two key issues in addressing regional crises are ‘counterterrorism and compulsory peace operations’.” Regional crises may occur that are difficult to handle. It would also be difficult to instantly plan, direct and act in conjunction with other countries. Therefore, this 'Peace and Friendship 2018' joint military drill, where the three armed forces work together to jointly plan and prepare, are of great significance."
Li observes, "In our joint actions with the forces of these countries, we are mainly seeking common ground while putting aside differences. In this way, we can jointly pursue our own interests and common interests. The three countries must reach agreement from strategy to combat to resolve any issue."
