China eyes joint military exercises with PH

From the Philippine Information Agency (Jun 29): China eyes joint military exercises with PH

China intends to explore the possibility of joint training, intelligence-sharing, and military exercises with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to combat terrorism.

“Terrorism is the enemy of both China and the Philippines, thus requiring our two militaries to further enhance cooperation in the areas of fighting it bilaterally, and in the regional and international context,” Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua said.

China turned over yesterday the donated 3,000 units of M-4 type assault rifles with more than five million ammunitions, and 90 units of sniper rifles with more than 800,000 ammunitions, as a demonstration of their support to the country’s battle against terrorism.

“Fighting against terrorism is extremely important. Not only should we acknowledge the symptoms, but we should also go to the root causes of terrorism,” he stressed.

Moreover, Zhao disclosed that the equipment brought to the Clark Airbase was only the first batch of China’s donations with the second batch to be delivered in the coming months.

“This is only the beginning. The Chinese government and military forces will continue to firmly support your fight against terrorism. Rest assured, we will help in the comprehensive settlement of the issue of terrorism in the Philippines,” the official added.

http://news.pia.gov.ph/article/view/3221498716937/china-eyes-joint-military-exercises-with-ph