China and Malaysia mark end of first joint military drill

Officers and men who took part in the China-Malaysia live-troop exercise at the closing ceremony. Photo by Peng Yining/China Daily

The first joint live-troop exercise between China and Malaysia ended on Tuesday.

Codenamed "Peace and Friendship 2015", the drill was also the largest joint exercise China has undertaken with an Association of Southeast Asian Nations country.

People's Liberation Army Lieutenant General Yi Xiaoguang said at the closing ceremony that troops of PLA and Malaysia Army Force fulfilled the joint exercise successfully.

PLA and MAF studied measures and methodology to cope with humanitarian crises and achieved important results in organizing and conducting operations such as joint escort, joint search and rescue, counter-piracy, medical assistance and house construction.

Both sides explored the mode and mechanism of conducting joint combined operations, carried out trials on command and operational procedures for integrated grouping, joint post decision-making and joint maneuvering.

Yi said both sides tested their capacity in coping with non-traditional security threats and enhanced their capabilities of command and control, employment of tactics, coordinated maneuvering and comprehensive logistical support.

Johari bin Baharum, vice director of Defense Force Malaysia, said the drill demonstrated how nations' military can collaborate, cooperate and work together to achieve objectives.

"We look forward to the next exercise hopefully to be hosted by China," he said.

Conducted between September 17 and 22, the drill's focus was the joint execution of non-war operations, which included training items like joint maritime escorts, the combined search and rescue of hijacked ships, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and a gunnery exercise.

The military drill aimed to cement the China-Malaysia all-round strategic partnership, enhance bilateral military exchanges, improve capabilities to address security threats and jointly safeguard regional maritime security, according to Yi.

The exercise involved a combination of all land, sea and air components involving more than 2,200 personnel.

The Chinese participating force comprised 1,160 officers and men, two destroyer-frigates, a hospital ship, four transport aircraft and three shipboard helicopters.