China and Russia to hold joint military exercises Aug 18-26: report
China and Russia to hold joint military exercises Aug 18-26: report BEIJING (AFP) Jul 06, 2005
China and Russia will hold rare joint military exercises involving up to 8,000 service personnel from August 18-26, a state newspaper reported Wednesday.
"Peace Mission 2005" will involve China's army, navy and air force, while Russia will dispatch its navy and air force, said the Global Times, citing Russian press reports.
China's Defense Ministry has not announced the exercises. But Russian President Vladimir Putin said last Thursday during a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao that joint exercises would take place later this year.
"Cooperation in the military-technical sphere and cooperation in the purely military sphere is in the process of expanding," Putin said.
"This year we expect for the first time for many years to have joint military exercises."
According to the Global Times, which is run by the official People's Daily, final arrangements for the exercises were agreed on July 1, when Major General Qian Lihua of China's Defense Ministry visited Moscow.
The paper said the joint maneuvers will begin on August 18-19, when the two sides hold military and political consultations at chief of staff level near Russia's Pacific Fleet headquarters at Vladivostok.
From August 20-22 the exercises will move to the Yellow Sea and the area off the Jiaodong peninsula in eastern China's Shandong province, it said.
These exercises will involve China's army, air force and navy, and Russian paratroppers who will jump on to the peninsula, while Russian ships engage in amphibious landing exercises, it said.
Air force exercises involving Sukhoi Su-27 figher planes and Tupolev TU 95MSs and TU 22M-3s will round out the drills on August 23-26, with long-distance bombing runs and cruise missile attacks, it said.
The exercises could also involve China's nuclear submarine fleet and anti-submarine warfare, the Global Times said.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
