China, Kirghizstan to Hold Military Exercise in October

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 19, 2002

China, Kirghizstan to Hold Military Exercise in October

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Kirghizstan Defense Minister Esen Topoyev announced on September 11 that Kirghizstan and China would conduct a military exercise in October in the border area of the two countries. This will be PLA's first joint military exercise together with a foreign country, according to news from Xinhua.

Defense ministers from member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) signed a joint communique on military cooperation in Moscow in May this year.

The ministers said the latest situation in Afghanistan required bilateral and multilateral cooperation in maintaining regional security and stability as well as in fighting against terrorism, separatism and extremism.

The ministers also suggested for a joint expert group responsible for consultations on joint anti-terrorism exercises.

Under such a condition, China and Kirghizstan decided to hold a joint anti-terror rehearsal.

Topoyev revealed at a press conference held in Kirghizstan that the military exercise would be conducted in two phases: the first phase will focus on mutual cooperation fighting against international terrorism, the second phase will be drilled in tactics for wiping out terrorists.

According to related departments of Kirghizstan, except frontier army, task forces will also participate in the exercise on the Kirghizstan side. The purpose of the exercise is to test cooperation and quick reaction ability in fighting against terrorism and various tactics.

In the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, except China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are all members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) treaty countries.

In recent years, the above-said countries have held many a time joint rehearsals centering on anti-terrorism.

Within the framework of Shanghai Cooperation Organization, China has not carried out joint exercise with other member countries.

The exercise between China and Kirghizstan is different from that of countries among CIS. Most servicemen of Central Asian countries can speak Russia, while, the two sides have great difference in languages, army mechanics and weapons.

Under current situation, fighting against terrorism has become a common consensus, Central Asian countries should particularly set an example first, despite the exercise is not on a large scale, it will be of great significance.

As one of the anti-terrorist activities, the exercise will not only accumulate experience but also indicate that Central Asian region is no "wonderland" of terrorists.

By PD Online Staff Li Yan

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