By Audrey Morallo
MANILA, Philippines — China is exploring joint military exercises with the Philippines, Beijing’s ambassador to Manila said on Wednesday, as he also announced several measures aimed at helping the Philippines fight terrorism.
Speaking at the ceremony for the turnover of Chinese military hardware to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, the Chinese ambassador, said Beijing would like to explore the possibility of holding joint military exercises and intelligence training with the Armed Forces of the Philippines, a sign of how far the relations between the two nations have improved since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed the presidency last year.
Aside from the possibility of cooperation between the two nations’ security forces, Zhao also announced that another batch of military hardware was already on its way, and the Philippines could expect it in a few months.
Zhao was speaking at the ceremony for the turnover of military assistance that included TY-85 7.62mm sniper rifles, CS/LR4A high-precision rifles, and CQ-A5 5.56 automatic rifles. The shipment also came with 6 million rounds of ammunition, according to reports.
The Chinese ambassador said that terrorism is a common enemy of Manila and Beijing. This should make them face this problem together, Zhao said, as he introduced the idea of joint military training.
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