BEIJING: China’s People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) conducted military exercises in an unknown location to “strike awe in India”, said the Global Times on Monday, citing a China Central Television report and another Chinese newspaper report from late last week.
Global Times made sure to mention that the drills were conducted “amid tensions inDoklam” to “lay the ground for plateau warfare”.
More than 10 PLA units from the ‘western theater command’ participated in the drills. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is closest to India, is where the ‘western theater command’ is most prominent. The units included aviation and armoured forces, said the TV report.
China Central Television is the official mouthpiece of China’s Communist Party. Global Times is run by the People’s Daily, also a mouthpiece of the same party.
The TV station reportedly aired a five-minute-long video that showed tanks firing at targets on hills and helicopters firing missiles at ground targets.
In the first week of August, China Central Television broadcast video it said showed an army unit in an unidentified part of Tibet carrying out live-fire firing exercises, reported the Associated Press (AP). Troops were shown loading and firing other missiles, some of which landed in fiery explosions. The report, which was also carried in other state media, didn’t mention the dispute with India and said the unit has been training for three months, said AP.
