Joint humanitarian aid and disaster relief drill in China for U.S. and Chinese soldiers 11711161

Defence & Security News - China
 
Joint humanitarian aid and disaster relief drill in China for U.S. and Chinese soldiers.
China and United States started a joint humanitarian aid and disaster relief drill on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, in southwest China's Kunming City.More than 100 Chinese soldiers and 89 U.S. forces joined the drill.
     
China and United States started a joint humanitarian aid and disaster relief drill on Wednesday, November 16, 2016, in southwest China's Kunming City.More than 100 Chinese soldiers and 89 U.S. forces joined the drill. Military personnel from China and United States talk during joint humantarian aid and disaster relief drill in Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, November 16, 2016.
     
The three-day drill involves 134 military personnel from China and 89 from the United States, employing helicopters, pontoon bridges and engineering and medical aid equipment.
 

The drill will simulate a joint rescue mission in response to a strong earthquake in a fictional plateau country. They will also conduct a tabletop exercise focusing on sharing information and joint decision-making, as well as field maneuvers focusing on evacuation of victims, and search and rescue of survivors.

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command and the U.S. Army Pacific will send delegations to observe and instruct the drill. Forty military officers from 24 countries will also observe the drill.

The joint exercise is not the first of its kind, since both militaries had agreed to increase exchanges and cooperation. This exercise is the fourth of its kind between China and the United States since 2013. Chinese President Xi Jinping is reform the army. One of his goal is to build an army that is more connected to the outside world.