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According to statistics released by the Foreign Affairs Office of the Ministry of Defense, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China carried out more than 100 important military exchange programs in 2004, including visits to over 60 countries by leading military officials and reception of important foreign delegations headed by defense ministers and commanders-in-chief of armed forces from over 50 countries.
High-Level Exchanges to Advance Relations With Other Major Powers. At the beginning of 2004, General Richard Myers, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited China, the first by the highest-ranking U.S. military officer to China since November 2000. Myers called his trip "a step in keeping the U.S.-China inter-military relationship growing." Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov paid two visits to China in 2004, during which he met with top Chinese state and military leaders. Ivanov and his Chinese counterpart Cao Gangchuan, who was also vice chairman of the Central Military Commission and state councilor, announced that the first ever joint military exercise between China and Russia would be conducted in China in 2005. All the three vice chairmen of the China's Central Military Commission traveled abroad in 2004. Guo Boxiong visited Russia, Egypt and South Africa. Cao Gangchuan toured Pakistan, India, Thailand, France, Belgium, Switzerland and Brazil. Xu Caihou paid a visit to Cuba and Mexico. Besides, Liang Guanglie, Chief of the General Staff of the PLA, visited Russia, France, Britain, the United States and Australia. China engaged in 19 strategic consultations and security dialogues with 13 counties including the United States, Russia, Germany, Britain and France. China also established a strategic consultation mechanism with Canada.
Joint Exercises Exhibiting Confidence and Pragmatism. China and France held a joint search-and-rescue exercise on the high sea beyond the Yellow Sea off China's east coast on March 16. This is the largest and most comprehensive maritime military drill the Chinese naval force has ever conducted with a foreign counterpart. The Chinese armed forces also held naval search-and-rescue exercises with its British and Australian counterparts, an anti-terrorism exercise with Pakistani troops at high altitudes and a mountaineering training with Indian troops. They also pushed ahead with the launching of a joint patrol with Vietnamese troops in the Beibu Bay. While the number of joint military excises between China and other countries are on the rise, the scope for these exercises is broadening. The China-Russia military exercise in 2005 will be the first military drill in the traditional security sector conducted jointly by Chinese and foreign armed forces.
Officer Exchanges to Enhance Competence. Over 10 senior officers from the French army, navy and air force came to China in late November for the 10-day China-France Seminar on Defense and Security for Senior Defense Officials. The French officers also toured Qingdao, Xi'an and Shanghai. This is the first time that China hosted a seminar exclusively for military officers from a Western country. China sent some 100 division and brigade chiefs in four groups to eight countries for a study tour in 2004, the first large-scale dispatch of middle-ranking officers to study abroad. The Chinese armed forces also sent hundreds of students to study in Russia, Britain, France, Germany and other countries. Now Chinese military students are studying in 25 foreign countries. Besides, officers at military academies were sent on a study tour to foreign countries including the United States, France, Britain, Japan, South Korea and Australia. China also trained 926 officers with various specialties for 82 countries.
Broadened Military Cooperation in the Multilateral Scene. Over 60 military observers from 16 countries observed a live ammunition offensive maneuver in mountainous areas carried out by a reinforced mechanized infantry division code-named "Iron Fist-2004" on September 25. It is the largest-scale military exercise open to foreigners and also the one that drew high-ranking military observers from the greatest number of countries ever since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. Over 100 senior defense officials attended the Security Policy Conference of the ASEAN Regional Forum held in Beijing on November 4-6. This conference added the high-level national defense officials' dialogue to the ASEAN Regional Forum. It raised the Chinese armed forces' position in regional security cooperation as well. China hosted the First SCO Defense Security Seminar in 2004. It also organized a Hong Kong tour for the military attaches in foreign embassies. In addition, it invited the participants in the International Symposium Course hosted by the PLA National Defense University to observe an amphibious exercise with live ammunition conducted by the South China Sea Fleet. |
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