Long known for being secretly conducted Chinese military
exercises were in fact frequently reported on by the media in 2006.
Observers suggest this is an indication of China's increased
willingness to enhance military trust with other countries.
The 'Friendship-2006' China-Pakistan joint
anti-terrorism exercise, from December 11-18 in the hills of
northern Pakistan's Abbottabad allowed full coverage by the media
from both countries.
The Chinese media also gave detailed reports on the shortcomings
of the domestic 'Queshan-2006' military drill from October
12-18 in the Jinan Military Region.
"China's military forces are striving to enhance their
transparency. The openness and transparency of military drills
reached a very high level in 2006," said Chen Hu, military expert
and executive editor-in-chief of World Military Affairs
magazine.?
"The high-level of transparency in bilateral military drills
illustrated that the military exercises do not infringe interests
of third parties and other countries," said Senior Colonel Wang
Weixing, deputy chief of staff of a unit of the Chengdu Military
Region and the Chinese chief exercise director in the 'Friendship
2006' drill.
Domestic drills open to media
China's 'Queshan-2006' military drill was in keeping with a
realistic advance operational plan involving a full complement of
personnel and equipment in all-weather conditions.
The experts in the exercise directorate were simply "looking for
flaws". At the evaluation meeting, director Cui Yafeng spoke for
half-an-hour but only devoted two minutes to the achievements of
the units while focusing on problems for 28 minutes.
The following day all China's major media detailed data and
vivid examples of the shortcomings of the drill. The division
commander put off launching an offensive three times to the point
where the first tier assault units stayed at the enemy's forward
position for upwards of 50 minutes. The division requested
firepower support but didn't provide specific times and targets.
Also a new missile was launched at five targets and hit two. And
individual units failed to set up radio stations but used
walkie-talkies and military mobile phones to communicate
instead.
"In the past all these things were regarded as military
secrets," said a report made by Hong Kong-based Mingpao
newspaper. "The 'Queshan-2006' drill welcomed media to report all
aspects and progress. Such openness and transparency is rare
anywhere in the world," said Chen Hu.
Other major domestic military drills this year opened their
doors to the media. Reporters were allowed to enter and interview
every unit and cover every corner. Drill directors had to take
media inquiries at any time and codes, objectives and progress were
all disclosed to the media.
Enhancing trust through joint drills
The fact that China conducted frequent exercises with other
countries and opened domestic military drills to the media
illustrated that China's armed forces had ushered in an "open and
transparent" era, said Major General Peng Guangqian, a senior
researcher with the Chinese Academy of Military Studies.
He said the openness mirrored the nation's open-door policy. The
information era provided strategic opportunities for China's armed
forces to narrow the gap with forces in advanced countries.
"The voluntary opening of China's military forces will help
enhance the trust between China and other countries," said
Peng.
This view was echoed by US Admiral Gary Roughead, commander of
the United States Pacific Fleet. He said transparency and mutual
benefits could only be realized through communication rather than
through weapons. "I've seen in my visit to China that our two
navies and marines have much in common," the admiral said.
The navies of China and the US held a search-and-rescue exercise on the South China
Sea on November 19. The exercise involved China's guided
missile destroyer Zhanjiang, the fuel tanker Dongting Lake, the USS
Juneau (LPD 10) and the USS missile destroyer Fitzgerald. China's
Yun-7 transport aircraft and the US P-3C patrol plane also
participated in the exercise.
The two navies conducted communications, fleet formation changes
and search-and-rescue exercises. Observers said the Sino-US military relations had ushered in a new
phase after the exercises and higher level personnel
communications.
Prior to the Sino-US exercises China had conducted more than ten
bilateral or multilateral military drills with countries such as
the United Kingdom, France, Pakistan, India, Australia, Thailand
and Russia.
Overseas media reported the People's Liberation Army had started
to move away from keeping military drills and its fighting capacity
a secret to selecting opportunities to showcase its military
power.
(Xinhua News Agency December 31, 2006)