News Story: Chinese army begins large-scale drill

ZHURIHE, Inner Mongolia, July 15 (Xinhua) -- Troops from the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Friday kicked off a drill that will last until September and aim to boost their "trans-regional" capabilities.

Seen as one of the key maneuvers after the establishment of the PLA's new command structure, the event will see mixed army brigades sent from each theater command separately confront a PLA troop posing as the enemy.

Where as the selection of brigades taking part in the drill would have been based on recommendations in the past, they were randomly selected this time, giving more troops chance to participate, according to chief director Wang Zhian.

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News Story: Chinese army to kick off three-month drill

ZHURIHE, Inner Mongolia, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Army troops from the five theater commands of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) will take part in a drill from July to September designed to "strengthen the troops' trans-regional operational capabilities."

It is one of the key maneuvers after the establishment of the PLA's new Army command, said a statement issued on Thursday by the Zhurihe training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where the drill will be held.

Read the full story at Xinhua

Editorial: Xi's US Trip - A Chance to Stand up for Uyghur Rights

Image: Flickr User - Malcolm Brown

By Rebiya Kadeer

Xi Jinping’s trip to the U.S. and address to the UN provide an opportunity to highlight abuses of Uyghur human rights.

The visit of Chinese president Xi Jinping to Washington, DC on September 24-25 comes at a critical time in the Sino-American relationship. Volatility in the Chinese economy, escalating tensions in the South China Sea, and cybersecurity are issues that will no doubt dominate the agenda as U.S. officials meet the Chinese delegation.

When a Chinese president arrives in Washington, it is essential that human rights issues also form part of the state-to state discussions. This time is no different. Uyghurs, Tibetans, Southern Mongolians, and Han Chinese see it as the moral responsibility of U.S. leaders to remind Chinese government representatives of their obligations to China’s citizens. President Obama must highlight the deteriorating human rights situation in China during Xi Jinping’s presidency. Restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly, curbs on religious rights and economic discrimination in China are severe and imperative to tackle, as they are major causes of domestic instability and human suffering.

While Xi’s U.S. visit has become the focus of media attention, it is also important to highlight his September 28 address to the United Nations (UN) and the role of the UN. The General Assembly this year marks the 70th anniversary of the UN and a plethora of global leaders are expected to descend upon New York.

The anniversary should mark a reexamination of the UN’s founding principles and a reinvestment in multilateral solutions to endemic injustice. Oppressed peoples the world over look to the United States to speak up against the proven autocrats and human rights abusers; however, it is a duty the United States should not bear alone.

Read the full story at The Diplomat

News Story: SCO members conduct massive live fire drill in Inner Mongolia

Five Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states carried out a massive live fire drill on Friday in north China's Inner Mongolia.

More than 7,000 troops from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan took part in the anti-terror drill, involving ground, air, special operations and airborne troops using support from electronic countermeasures, reconnaissance, mapping and positioning units.

Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army Fang Fenghui, along with his counterparts from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, watched the exercise, which started at 10am at the Zhurihe training base.

Viewers also included representatives from SCO observer states Pakistan and Mongolia, and the dialogue partner Sri Lanka, as well as delegations of foreign military attaches from 40 countries.

Read the full story at Want China Times

Editorial: Russia and the SCO Military Exercises

By Joshua Kucera

Russia may be putting aside its reluctance to accept the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s growing clout in Central Asia.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization is holding its biggest joint military exercises ever, as Russia seeks to strengthen ties with China in the wake of its collapsing relations with Europe and the United States. The scale of the exercises suggests that the organization, which had lately seemed to be focusing more on economic and law enforcement cooperation in Central Asia, may be again emphasizing its military component.

This year’s iteration of the annual Peace Mission exercises are scheduled for August 24 to 29 in China’s Inner Mongolia province. About 7,000 troops are slated to take part: mostly from China, but also from SCO members Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. (Uzbekistan, while an SCO member, traditionally declines to participate in the group’s military drills.)

The size of the Peace Mission drills has declined in recent years, but Chinese officials say this is the largest SCO drill ever: “It’s the first time that so many troops and so much weaponry have been deployed in joint drills under the SCO aegis,” Wang Ning, chief director of the drills and deputy chief of the general staff of the People’s Liberation Army, told the China Daily newspaper.

It’s not clear what has prompted the revival of large-scale SCO military exercises, but it comes at an opportune time for Russia. As Moscow faces sanctions and censure from the U.S. and European countries as a result of its assertive policy in Ukraine, the Kremlin is eager to show that it doesn’t need the West. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat

News Story: Drone fires missiles at Inner Mongolia SCO anti-terror drill

China's military drones participated in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) anti-terror drills in Inner Mongolia for the first time on Tuesday.

Participating in the live fire drills, one drone, which was not identified by its model number, shot off several missiles during the rehearsal, said Shen Jinke, spokesperson of the People's Liberation Army Air Force.

"Drones, tasked with surveillance, reconnaissance and ground attacks, will play a vital role in fighting against terrorism," he said.

The aerial vehicle has yet to miss a shot since joining Peace Mission 2014, a multinational drill which began on Aug. 24, said Feng Aiwang, commander of the air force battle group.

Read the full story at Want China Times

News Story: China to lead five-nation anti-terror drills in Inner Mongolia

China is preparing to lead a major multinational anti-terror exercise that carries strong political and diplomatic significance, reports Duowei News, an outlet run by overseas Chinese.

Peace Mission-2014 will be held between Aug. 24 and Aug. 29 in Zhurihe, China's largest and most modern training base located Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in the northern part of the country. The countries taking part will be China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, all members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a Eurasian political, economic and military alliance founded in 2001.

Around 7,000 personnel will take part in the non-traditional security cooperation aimed at striking regional terrorism, with the People's Liberation Army's Air Force and Ground Force taking the lead, according to Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao.

Read the full story at Want China Times

Editorial: Can China Stomach an Independent Kurdistan?

By Ankit Panda

Beijing may have to make some tough choices when it comes to Kurdish independence.

Given fast-moving events in northern Iraq these past few weeks, the prospect of an independent Kurdistan emerging from the rubble looks increasingly likely. For the Western powers, there are several good reasons to support an independent Kurdistan: the region would likely be a relatively well-governed, stable, pro-Western ally (Amitai Etzioni makes this argument in greater detail elsewhere on The Diplomat). However, for China, which has remained mostly on the sidelines of this conflict so far, an independent Kurdistan would be a step too far. Since Mao and the Communists united China in the 1940s, a mainstay of Chinese communist foreign policy has been an opposition to separatism at all costs. Beijing does this not only due to its own Taiwan situation, but also because of fears that witnessing successful separatist movements elsewhere in the world could galvanize separatism in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia.

Beyond mere philosophical opposition to an independent Kurdistan, China has important economic stakes in the region. Since 2009, when Sinopec acquired Addax Petroleum, which was developing the Taq Taq oil field in Iraq’s Kurdish region, Kurdish Iraq has become a major economic nexus for China. In recent years, Chinese investment in Kurdish oil fields and infrastructure has been rising rapidly, and several Chinese citizens live and work in the region. Following the United States’ 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Iraqi government formalized Kurdistan’s post-1991 high degree of autonomy within the Iraqi state, allowing the region to effectively conduct itself as a state (i.e. set its own foreign policy, manage its own defense, etc). The reason the region isn’t a country yet is because of a convoluted oil-sharing agreement between the government in Baghdad and the Kurds.

Read the full story at The Diplomat