Soldiers from China and the United States wrapped up a week of joint disaster relief drills yesterday, in a display of co-operation against a backdrop of worsening ties between the two countries over trade, the disputed South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan.
Relations between the world’s two largest economies have plumbed new depths under US President Donald Trump, who is due to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Argentina starting late this month.
The exercise, held in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing, comes a week after Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe and top diplomat Yang Jiechi visited Washington, where US officials urged China to halt militarisation of the South China Sea.
But there was no sign of those strains as Chinese and US soldiers simulated plucking people from earthquake-destroyed buildings and treating survivors’ injuries at a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) base on the outskirts of Nanjing.
Troops practised search and rescue in a small mock-up of a devastated urban area post-earthquake, using sniffer dogs and other gear to search for people buried in the fake rubble.
“Only through more contacts, more exchanges and cooperation in areas of common interest can we effectively increase mutual trust and effectively reduce misjudgments,” Qin Weijiang, deputy commander of the PLA’s eastern theatre command, told reporters.
“So I think bilateral exchanges can start from humanitarian and disaster relief exchanges and expand to other areas of common interest.”
Robert Brown, Commanding General of the US Army Pacific, said the exchange was “extremely important”.
“Just as our top leaders work towards building a strong working relationship and understanding, we through confidence-building measures like this DME must also at our level build a strong understanding of each other,” he added, referring to Disaster Management
Exchange.
This is the 14th time the joint exchange has been held, which last year took place in the United States.
China’s defence ministry has said it hopes the military relationship can become a “stabiliser” for overall ties with the United States.
All the same, Washington and Beijing swapped barbs over trade, investment and regional security at an Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit yesterday in Papua New Guinea.
US Army and China’s PLA military personnel take part in an exercise of Disaster Management Exchange near Nanjing, Jiangsu province, China, yesterday.
