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PLA launches air defense drills

Updated: 2010-08-04 13:17

 

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China began a five-day live-fire air defense exercise on Tuesday with fighter jets and thousands of servicemen against the backdrop of an increased regional military and diplomatic tension.

The drills, involving more than 12,000 service members from naval and army aviation units and land-based air defense forces, are taking place across the central province of Henan and eastern coastal province of Shandong, which flanks the Yellow Sea, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

Chief of staff of the Jinan Military Command told the China News Service that his "military command organized the drills to engage in joint air defense of the capital city".

"The aim is to increase fighting capabilities in this military region and make effective preparations for military combat," the China News Service quoted one of the generals overseeing the drills, as saying.

The exercises, codenamed "Vanguard 2010", will involve emergency evacuation, war planning, and reconnaissance and early warning and is aimed at ensuring preparedness for the defense of Beijing in a potential air raid. It will also include one live-fire drill and will take place in real-time war conditions without any previous rehearsal, it added.

About 100 aircraft of seven different types will take off 200 times to stimulate enemy moves - for air defense missiles and artillery units' confrontation practice, the report said.

The military command last Tuesday conducted another exercise, which successfully ferried loaded soldiers and loaded armor unites from Henan to a peninsula at the Yellow Sea in four hours.

The exercises come close on the heels of large naval and air drills held on China's southeast coast last week, just as the United States and Republic of Korea conducted their own naval exercises in the region, despite opposition from Beijing.

About 20 ships including the 97,000-ton carrier USS George Washington, 200 aircraft and 8,000 personnel took part in the joint exercise designed to deter infiltration from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

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（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

Lee Hannon is Chief Editor at China Daily with 15-years experience in print and broadcast journalism. Born in England, Lee has traveled extensively around the world as a journalist including four years as a senior editor in Los Angeles. He now lives in Beijing and is happy to move to China and join the China Daily team.