By Luo Zheng and Feng Sheng
BEIJING, Aug.12 -- Less than a week since the end of China-Pakistan joint maritime exercise Sea Guardians-2, the China-Laos Peace Train-2022 joint humanitarian medical rescue exercise was launched in Vientiane. Subsequently, the International Army Games (IAG) 2022 is to be unveiled. Over the past decade, the Chinese military has been proactive in organizing and participating in bilateral or multilateral joint exercises and training, marking the institutionalization and normalization of joint exercises, training and competitions between China and other countries.
Starting from 2012 and before the outbreak of COVID-19, the Chinese military had held more than 100 joint exercises with the militaries of more than 30 countries, including 17 in 2013, 24 in 2015, and more than 30 in 2018, an ever-increasing trend in number. Meanwhile, the contents of these joint exercises had expanded from anti-terrorism and disaster relief to peacekeeping, naval escort, medical service, security, special operations and so on, along with the extension of drill areas from the periphery of China to high seas and oceans. The participating forces, as previously dominated by the army, included the navy, the air force and the combined forces as well. Besides, the participating countries were extended from neighbor countries to countries in Europe, America, Africa and Oceania.
In the past decade, the joint exercises, training and games between China and other countries have been increasingly highlighting combat readiness. In particular, the four strategic military drills, i.e., the Vostok-2018, Tsentr-2019, Caucasus-2020 and ZAPAD/INTERACTION-2021 held from 2018 to 2021, provided important platforms for the Chinese military to enhance the core capabilities. With the joint exercises, training and games being more and more close to real combats, their role of honing crack troops just like a “sharpening stone” has become increasingly prominent.
Over the past decade, the joint training and exercises between China and other countries have always highlighted the theme of “peace”, making contributions to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind. In the past ten years, the word “peace” has appeared in the codenames of many China-foreign joint exercises and training activities. For example, the series of Peace Mission exercises under the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has effectively enhanced the joint counter-terrorism capability of SCO member states and played an important role in safeguarding regional security and stability; the Peace and Friendship and the Peace Rescue joint exercises have laid a good foundation for the cooperation between the Chinese military and the militaries of neighboring countries in humanitarian relief operations. And the Shared Destiny-2021 exercise taking place in last September is the first UN peacekeeping field training exercise the Chinese military has ever hosted, demonstrating the unwavering resolve of the Chinese military to protect world peace.
Whether it is fighting against terrorism side by side or working together in humanitarian rescue operations, the Chinese soldiers have demonstrated time and time again in the arenas of international training and exercises that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has always been a staunch force for maintaining world peace.
