U.S. and Chinese soldiers completed a joint disaster relief exercise Friday in an effort to promote joint military cooperation between the two countries, Reuters reports.Terri Yue Jones writes this was the first time the countries planned for joint action and observed Chinese troops during drills for entering and rappelling down sides of buildings.
Maj. Gen. Stephen Lyons, commander of the U.S. Army‘s Hawaii-based 8th Theater Sustainment Command, said previous visits to discuss disaster relief mostly involved information sharing.
AsiaOne.com reports the drills took place at a Chinese military base located outside Chengdu and involved collaboration on computer-generated scenarios.
During his visit to the country this week, U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said China could participate in more U.S.-led joint naval drills, according to AsiaOne.
