Chinese and Belarusian forces to hold joint drills in July

The Chinese Ministry of Defense explained that the decision to conduct joint maneuvers results from the "annual plan and consensus reached by both countries."

A statement released on Sunday emphasized that as part of the anti-terrorism exercises, both sides will use a mixed form of training. The joint exercises will include activities related to hostage rescue and anti-terrorism operations. The aim is to improve the level of training and interoperability of the participating forces and to deepen pragmatic cooperation between them.

According to the Ministry of Defense, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers have already arrived in Belarus. However, no exact start and end dates for the exercises were given.

The Belarusian Ministry of Defense announced in its press release that the maneuvers are scheduled from July 8 to 19. The Belarusian side emphasized that the joint exercises would enable the exchange of experiences, coordination of units from both countries and the development of the basis for further development of Belarusian-Chinese relations in the field of joint military training.

The Chinese daily "Global Times" noted that these would be the first joint maneuvers of the armies of these countries since Belarus joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization last week, which was initiated by Russia and China. The newspaper also recalled that the PLA Honor Guard recently participated in a military parade in Minsk on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Belarus's liberation.

"Global Times," citing unnamed observers, wrote: "Both events have shown that the PLA is capable of rapid troop transport in case of a security threat."