US

SCO military exercises to target regional terrorism

By Li Xiaokun (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-14 08:03

Chinese troops participating in "Peace Mission 2010" march across the Matybulak military range in Kazakhstan. Li Jing / China Daily

Massive display of force brings together alliance in Central Asia.

MATYBULAK, Kazakhstan - Deep in the southern grasslands of this former Soviet republic, troops from China, Russia and two other Central Asian countries marched in a joint military formation on Monday, as they kicked off training for a large-scale, anti-terror drill.

With deafening, multiple rifle salutes scattering birds from nearby yellow grass, flags of the five participating nations including China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan - all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) - were raised one by one in the morning in a square near the camps.

Located 200 km west of the capital Almaty, the Matybulak testing grounds, covering more than 1,600 sq km, was once used as a huge military training base by the former Soviet Union in its Central Asian republics.

All the officers and soldiers saluted and sang national anthems as their flags were raised.

The five military groups proceeded to parade, one by one, along the square before passing the rostrum where the commander-in-chiefs from each of the five nations stood, saluting them.

Colonel Wang Bin, an officer in charge of daily training for part of the Chinese military there, said many of the participating Chinese soldiers had previously joined in the parade marking the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China on Oct 1 of last year.

Every commander-in-chief offered a speech to encourage the soldiers. "The strategic intention of our drill goes in line with some potential phenomenon," said Major General Murat Maikeev from Kazakhstan.

Set against a background of terrorism triggering regional crises, the Peace Mission 2010 exercise involving some 5,000 troops is scheduled for Sept 9 to 25. It is the seventh one of its kind under the SCO flag.

Experience gleaned from these exercises will help determine when an SCO member country is jeopardized by terrorism and in need of help from other member states, he said.

"Nowadays, and for a long time (into) the future, terrorism, extremism and separatism will be our joint enemies," said Ma Xiaotian, deputy chief of the general staff of China's People's Liberation Army and chief of the Chinese military for the exercise.

To counter these, he said, is the "holy mission of every officer and soldier here".

China has sent about 1,000 troops via train to the drill from the Beijing Military Area Command. An air force combat group, meanwhile, will fly directly from China to the event.

Russia and Kazakhstan have also sent more than 1,000 troops each, while Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan dispatched more than 100 each.

The Chinese, Russian and Kazakh processions were composed of multiple military sections, while Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan sent units of special forces soldiers to parade.

After two weeks of joint maneuvers, defense ministers of the five nations will oversee a final exercise on Sept 24. All nations will also put some of their latest, most high-tech weaponry on display.

While announcing the kick-off of the drill in Almaty on Friday, Chen Bingde, the chief of general staff of the People's Liberation Army, said that Beijing had sent its most advanced military hardware for the event - much of which was presented at the 60th National Day anniversary parade.

Among all parts of the Chinese military, only naval equipment and strategic missile forces would not be involved in the drill, he said.

Li Shuyin, an expert on Russian and Central Asian military studies with the PLA Academy of Military Science, said Monday's parade demonstrated a high degree of technical development among the five militaries.

"And from the speeches of the five directors, I can tell their joint concern of terrorism - and their own concerns based on (their) domestic situations," she said.

The chief of the Tajikistan section said that, for his country, the most pressing task is to fight narcotics, smuggling, extremism and terrorism.

"We'll uphold all kinds of moves to confront such threats," he told the soldiers.

China Daily