TIL Desk/World/Beijing-Amid the South China Sea tensions, Chinese military today kicked off large scale military exercises pressing troops from the five theatre commands of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) simulating real battle conditions. The military drills which began yesterday will last will last until September and aimed to boost the military’s “trans-regional” capabilities.
A report on July 14 said that the exercises will be held at Zhurihe training base in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Seen as one of the key manoeuvres after the establishment of the PLA’s new command structure, the event will see mixed army brigades sent from each theatre command separately confront a PLA troop posing as the enemy.
The schedule was pushed to July from the usual May to give troops more time for preparatory training. The drills were being held in the back drop of verdict of the tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration which has struck down China’s historic claims over the South China Sea. China has boycotted the proceedings of the tribunal and rejected the verdict and refused to implement it.