Chinese military aims for global connections

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Chinese military aims for global connections

By ZHOU WA (China Daily) 08:28, November 14, 2013

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Exercises with three other countries seen as small steps toward building mutual trust

A series of military exercises between China, the United States, India and Indonesia this week demonstrate that the Chinese military wants to expand cooperation with foreign countries and build a more transparent image, experts said.

On Wednesday, China and the United States continued their disaster relief exercise in Hawaii, while China and India held joint anti-terrorism drills in Sichuan province. Two days earlier, China and Indonesia concluded their weeklong anti-terrorism drill in Bandung.

"Under its new leadership, China is more eager and active with its military, which foreign countries used to regard as ‘mysterious'," said Li Qinggong, deputy secretary-general of the China Council for National Security Policy Studies.

"These joint military exercises hold considerable political weight because Beijing hopes to deepen mutual trust with foreign countries with these drills and remove their worries about the rise of China," Li said.

Wang Baofu, a professor of military strategy with the National Defense University of China's People's Liberation Army, said, "The drills are symbols of deepened mutual trust among all sides."

The drill in Hawaii focused on disaster relief operations that require cooperation between the Chinese and the US militaries in a third country, reported the Associated Press. It marks the first time that Chinese soldiers have participated in a military drill in US territory.

China sent 60 soldiers and observers to the exercise in Hawaii while the US sent 50 participants, which include soldiers and civilians from the US Army Pacific, the Hawaii Army National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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