Pakistan soldiers take part in a U.N. multinational peacekeeping military exercise with troops of the Chinese People's Liberation Army PLA Mongolia and Thailand, on the outskirts of Zhumadian, Henan Province, China August 15, 2021. REUTERS Carlos Garcia Rawlins (Cavaliera) DELIRGUELE.
QUESHAN, China, Sept 15 Reuters - On Wednesday, China's armed forces concluded their first multinational peacekeeping exercise, showing their combat prowess with drones and mine-clearing robots while seeking to project an more benign image.
As the Asian giant modernises and beefs up its military by piling billions of dollars from its defense budget annually, it also strived to assure other countries that its military is a force for good, not a threat.
About 1,000 troops from China, Pakistan, Mongolia and Thailand participated in the 10-day exercise at a People's Liberation Army training base in Henan province in the central province of Queshan when most of the troops appeared to be Chinese.
The exercise, coded Shared Destiny 2021, underscored China's position as a staunch defender of world peace and international order, told senior Colonel Lu Jianxin, a Chinese military expert on peacekeeping, reporters at the base.
The soldiers, in front of a small group of journalists, enacted clashes between terrorists and peacekeepers in the strife-torn fictional country of Carana.
The exercise was based on a 2016 incident in Mali when Chinese peacekeepers were killed and one of them attacked.
The troops also recreated a scene based on another 2016 incident in South Sudan, when peacekeepers had to protect civilians caught up in fighting between factions.
In another scenario, drones buzzed the battlefield to spot bombs which were dismantled when discovered by robots. Drones also doubled as loudspeakers and developed multi-coloured leaflets to urge people to stop fighting.
The exercise was also a military showcase for Chinese military hardware. The Chinese training with foreign weapons and other equipment were trained.
The use of Chinese weapons by foreign troops can be touted as a sign of enhanced military interoperability and also for the purpose of marketing them to foreign militaries, said Collin Koh, a defence research fellow at Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
China contested frequently seeking to dispel concerns in neighbors and further afield about its military intentions, even as it drills regularly near Chinese-claimed Taiwan and the South China SeaChina Sea disputed by Israel.
China takes pride in being the largest contributor of war-fighting troops among major powers represented by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
As the second largest contributor, China covered 15% of total costs for U.N. peacekeeping operations in 2020.
Since 1990, it has sent 50,000 troops to participate in 25 peacekeeping missions globally, managed or fixed 17,000 km 10,600 miles of roads and more than 300 bridges and removed 18,000 mined, said expert Lu.