INDO-PACIFIC China and Cambodia Conduct Joint Military Training Amid Coronavirus Outbreak OE Watch Commentary: On 12 March, the Chinese state-run media outlet People’s Liberation Army Daily reported that China and Cambodia conducted joint military training in Cambodia. This was the fourth joint training between the two militaries as part of “The ‘Golden Dragon’ series-- “an important project of pragmatic cooperation Chinese and Cambodian military.” According to the article, the Chinese soldiers were primarily elite troops from the 75th Group Army, who are part of the Southern Theater Command Ground Force in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). The training equipment of the joint military exercises included helicopters, armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and “wheeled vehicles.” The article claims the training was divided into two phases: mixed training and comprehensive training. The first phase focused on counter-terrorism equipment use, light weapons training, “assassinations” (which likely involves knife combat training), The Royal Cambodian Army, 2014. “fighting” (which probably refers to hand combat), capturing targets, identifying Source: R Carmy via Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Royal_ explosives, landing aircrafts, and hunting. The second phase involved comprehensive Cambodian_Army_soldiers,_2014.jpg, CC BY SA 3.0 counter-terrorism exercises. The article concludes with a paragraph discussing previous efforts to host joint military training between China and Cambodia and the improvements that have been made in 2020. It notes that “compared with before, the joint training has a larger troop strength, a more advanced and diversified weaponry arsenal, and China has deployed a new type of helicopter and self-propelled artillery for the first time. Simultaneously, the content of this joint training is more prominent in actual combat, focusing on the training of coordinated command and joint action capabilities.” An additional article published on 12 March by the Chinese state-run Xinhua News Agency elaborated on the importance of the joint training for both China and Cambodia amidst the outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). “During the joint training, officers and soldiers of the two armies will also jointly carry out humanitarian assistance and organize activities such as conducting inspections, delivering medicine, and giving supplies to local villagers and students.” The article also stated the joint training “is a concrete measure to implement the spirit of the Beijing meeting between Chinese and Cambodian leaders. It will help deepen the exchanges and cooperation between the two armed forces in the field of military training and enhance the ability to respond to terrorist security threats and further enhance strategic mutual trust between the Chinese and Cambodian armies… It truly achieved ‘two successes’ in training preparations and epidemic prevention and control.” End OE Watch Commentary (Hartnett) “The ‘Golden Dragon’ series of joint training is an important project of pragmatic cooperation between the Chinese and Cambodian military.”

Source: Chen Dianhong & Li Yang, “‘Golden Dragon-2020’ Chinese and Cambodian Joint Training,” People’s Liberation Army Daily, 12 March 2020. www.mod.gov.cn/action/2020-03/12/content_4861846.htm

The Chinese participants are mainly composed of the elite troops of the 75th Ground Army. The training equipment includes helicopters, armored vehicles, self-propelled artillery, and wheeled vehicles. Land, sea, and air will be used for three-dimensional delivery to Cambodia. Among them, the air transport and helicopter echelon will arrive in Cambodia before the 14th, and the sea transport echelon will arrive in Sihanoukville, Cambodia before the 12th. According to reports, the joint training is divided into two phases: mixed training and comprehensive training. The first phase mainly focuses on counter-terrorism equipment operation and use, live-fire shooting of light weapons, assassinations, capturing, fighting, searching for explosives, aircraft landing, and hunting. The second phase organizes comprehensive counter-terrorism exercises. The ‘Golden Dragon’ series of joint training is an important project of pragmatic cooperation between the Chinese and Cambodian military. This is the fourth joint training. Compared with before, the joint training has a larger troop strength, a more advanced and diversified weaponry arsenal, and China has deployed a new type of helicopter and self-propelled artillery for the first time. Simultaneously, the content of this joint training is more prominent in actual combat, focusing on the training of coordinated command and joint action capabilities.

Source: Zhou Guoqiang & Mao Pengfei, “‘Golden Dragon-2020’ Chinese and Cambodian Armed Forces Jointly Train, Chinese Army Participates,” Xinhua News Agency, 12 March 2020. www.mod.gov.cn/action/2020-03/12/content_4861852.htm

During the joint training, officers and soldiers of the two armies will also jointly carry out humanitarian assistance and organize activities such as conducting inspections, delivering medicine, and giving supplies to local villagers and students. It is a concrete measure to implement the spirit of the Beijing meeting between Chinese and Cambodian leaders. It will help deepen the exchanges and cooperation between the two armed forces in the field of military training and enhance the ability to respond to terrorist security threats and further enhance strategic mutual trust between the Chinese and Cambodian armies. This is the fourth joint training. During the epidemic, our army was part of the only real-arms live ammunition exercise jointly led by foreign forces. It truly achieved ‘two successes’ in training preparations and epidemic prevention and control.

OE Watch | April 2020 23