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ZHENGZHOU, Sept. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- A military exercise code-named "Iron Fist-2004" in Henan Province, watched by 60 foreign servicemen, marked another step in the increasing transparency of China's military, Saturday.
A reinforced mechanized infantry
division performed the exercise at the Queshan Training Base of the Jinan
Military Area Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).
Luo Yuan, a military expert with
the Academy of Military Sciences of the PLA, said this exercise showed that the
transparency of the Chinese army was increasing and the Chinese army had become
more self-confident and mature.
The foreign military leaders and
observers are from Brunei, the Philippines, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia,
India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia,
Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
The ranking officers include
commander of the Brunei armed forces, chiefs of the general staff of the
Philippines and Tajikistan, and the chief of staff of the Bangladesh army.
It is the first time the PLA
invited so many foreign, high-ranking military officers to observe a Chinese
military exercise. It is also the largest-scale military exercise open to
foreign observers.
However, this is not the first
time Chinese armed forces invited foreign servicemen to observe military
exercises.
In August 25, 2003, for the first
time, China invited foreign military observers from 15 countries to watch
military maneuvers at China's largest tactical drill base. The event was aimed
at introducing Chinese armed forces to the world and strengthening cooperation
with foreign armed forces.
On Sept. 2 some 50 servicemen
from China and abroad observed an amphibian landing exercise in Shanwei of south
China's Guangdong Province.
At this event, the observers were
military officials from France, Germany, Britain and Mexico, and Chinese and
foreign students of China's University of National Defense.
At the same time, China set the
principle of gradual participation in multilateral military exercises to broaden
its cooperation with other countries. This principle was also put into practice
by the frequent joint military exercises and high-level military cooperation.
Since 2002, China held joint
military exercises with Shanghai Cooperation Organization member countries,
India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom and France. These exercises involve
non-security fields such as anti-terrorism, anti-smuggling, drug searches and
sea rescue.
However, Iron Fist-2004 was
carried out by a infantry division in the training base of the PLA.
"This shows military exchanges
with foreign armed forces are shifting from non-traditional fields to the field
of military security," Luo said.
Luo said this opens new channels
for Chinese army to cooperate with foreign armed forces. China's armed forces,
especially the land forces, used to be "mysterious" for foreigners.
Fan Yuegao, also an expert with
the Academy of Military Sciences of the PLA, said this military exercise will
show foreigners the PLA's prestige and courage.
The exercises should help
eliminate the misunderstanding that some nations have formed about China and its
military, Fan said.
Nine member countries of
Association of Southeast Asian Nations and four member countries of Shanghai
Cooperation Organization were invited to this exercise.
"This shows that China attaches
great importance to the cooperation with these two organizations and pushes the
in-depth cooperation with them in security," Luo said.
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