TAONAN, Jilin Province: Rudi Wertheim, defense attach at the British embassy in Beijing said yesterday how impressed he had been by the use of laser animations in combination with live action at the "Warrior 2007" exercises.
"Chinese military building is going in a sensible direction," he said, noting the laser animation technology was a useful aid in the training of soldiers for real combat.
Wertheim said he was happy to see the rapid development of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), in comparison to a drill he observed two years ago in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The British army officer's feeling was shared by his counterparts from 35 countries, who were invited yesterday to view the PLA's regular drill.
Involving more than 10,000 troops, it was a live ammunition drill conducted by a motorized infantry division at the Taonan Training Base under the Shenyang Military Area Command of the PLA.
Colonel Brinkmann Kay, acting chief of Staff of the German Army's 13th Mechanized Infantry Division said being able to see the exercise helped him get an idea of how professional the Chinese military forces are.
The 45-year-old colonel was most interested in seeing how the Chinese military presented its intentions to the international community.
"We can see now that we are aiming at the same goal, which is a stable and peaceful world. Besides watching, we have had a chance to talk and exchange views and I think we are on the right track," he said.
Kay said he kept an open mind on his trip to the exercise, particularly as this was his first visit to China.
"It is very impressive and I would like to have more such opportunities," he said.
Japanese attach excited
Colonel Tsubaki Yuichi, the Japanese embassy's army attach was also excited about getting to see the drill.
As this is the first time Japanese observers have been able to attend the military drill, Tsubaki said he treasured the chance very much and was looking forward to seeing more military exchanges between the two countries.
Speaking highly of the Chinese military's efforts to increase its transparency, Tsubaki said he hopes his Chinese counterparts will be able to participate in drills with Japan's Self-defense Forces next year in Japan.
A Chinese fleet will visit Japan at the end of the year but the country has not yet invited the PLA to a formal military exercise.
Mark O'Nell, a US deputy commandant said the military exercises had helped him understand more about the PLA.
"I can see that the soldiers have been preparing for a long time and once the drill started, they were very enthusiastic and they executed the plan exactly in the way their commanders told them to," said O' Nell.
He said the PLA's development was well suited to China's growing influence and was making good progress towards coping with the challenges of combat in the information age.
Gao Chao, chief of the No 146 Motorized Infantry Division said the exercise was a routine annual training task, designed to test the organization and planning competence of command staff and the integrated operation capability of the troops.
"We would like to exchange information and knowledge about how to fight a modern war with our foreign counterparts," said Gao.
The division is one of the PLA's oldest units, today incorporating a motorized infantry regiment, an armored regiment, an artillery regiment, operation support units and other units.
Other observers included officers from members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and ASEAN members, Britain, and France, and other foreign military attaches in China.
Source: China Daily
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