China-Singapore.jpg (Photo : www.channelnewsasia.com)
China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) have on Sunday concluded their countries' third bilateral military training exercise.
Codenamed "Cooperation 2014," it was carried out from Nov. 2 to to 9 in the 12-square-kilometer Xingli training area in Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province.
The final drill and closing ceremony was witnessed by General Cai Yingting, who is the Nanjing military region commander, and by Singapore's Defense Minister, Dr. Ng Eng Hen.
Seventy personnel from each of the two armies who took part in the exercise were organized into an infantry company. The Chinese participants belong to the PLA's 179th Brigade and Nanjing Military Region, while Singapore's delegation is comprised of personnel from the 5th Battalion Singapore Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Singapore Division. Three main battle tanks from PLA were also deployed during the exercise.
The eight-day drill, which features both professional seminars and company-level conventional infantry exercises with live-firing demonstrations, culminated Sunday with a combined live-firing exercise that saw the participants teaming up to take out 84 targets.
The 2014 joint military exercise was the first time that the two armies were put through conventional land warfare scenarios.
In the previous joint exercises conducted in 2009 and 2010, the emphasis was placed on the conduct of anti-terror drills.
General Cai said that the exercise has now evolved to that point wherein conventional security scenarios can be explored and approached with live-firing and participation by combat division, according to People's Daily Online.
For his part, Dr. Ng thanked General Cai for hosting the Singapore troops, saying that the joint exercise builds good and close military ties between both sides, according to the Straits Times.
Dr. Ng added: "There are very few things that forge closer ties than charging up the hill together, sleeping on the same barracks, bathing in cold water together and eating food together."
