China and Russia to Hold Joint Military Exercises Aug 18-26: Report
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, BEIJING
China and Russia will hold rare joint military exercises involving up to 8,000 service personnel from August 18-26, a state newspaper reported July 6.
Peace Mission 2005 will involve Chinas army, navy and air force, while Russia will dispatch its navy and air force, said the Global Times, citing Russian press reports.
Chinas Defense Ministry has not announced the exercises. But Russian President Vladimir Putin said June 30 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 Peoples Daily, final arrangements for the exercises were agreed on July 1, when Major General Qian Lihua of Chinas 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 Russias 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 Chinas Shandong province, it said.
These exercises will involve Chinas army, air force and navy, and Russian paratroopers who will jump on to the peninsula, while Russian ships engage in amphibious landing exercises, it said.
? Air force exercises involving Sukhoi Su-27 fighter 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 Chinas nuclear submarine fleet and anti-submarine warfare, the Global Times said.
Comments? Off hand, this sounds like it has coordinated "Taiwan Invasion Plans" written all over it...
Pinging to above info post...
Thanks for the information... Jeepers...