Hong Kong’s PLA garrison carries out first joint drill of the year
- The Chinese military says its forces carried out a series of exercises around the city, involving warships, helicopters and armoured vehicles
- PLA says training ‘improves ability to perform diverse military tasks’
The PLA practised maritime interception, battlefield rescue and emergency repairs, with the aim of improving coordination among the three service branches, a statement published on the garrison’s social media accounts on Wednesday said.
The one-day exercise began with a corvette and landing vessel practising intercepting a “suspicious” vessel in coordination with two helicopters.
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“The waterways in Hong Kong are complicated as there are many cargo and fishing vessels, which brings great difficulties to us in identifying suspicious vessels. In this joint operation, we explored coordination and communication with land and air branches … and improved our ability to perform diverse military tasks,” Liang Jun, commander of the Type 056A corvette that took part in the exercise, said in the statement.
Another helicopter was photographed landing near the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre as part of an exercise to search a targeted area with the aim of “wiping out infiltrating enemies”.
“During the landing process, there are many low-altitude obstacles and the risk of collision, which requires us to choose a reasonable route and process strong psychological qualities,” the helicopter’s pilot Shen Tianci said.
Meanwhile, the army’s armoured vehicles practised a coordinated exercise with air force helicopters which Yang Guang, a garrison training officer, said improved the PLA’s ability to “plan, prepare and take coordinated action”.
Song Zhongping, a former PLA instructor, said the drill would help familiarise the garrison with the city and improve its counterterrorism skills.
“As a key component of the Southern Theatre Command, the Hong Kong garrison also shoulders the responsibility of fighting against enemy forces. This week’s drill has tested coordination between different branches within the garrison, and this can be a good exercise to see its coordination with external forces like other branches in the South Theatre Command.”
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Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, the Basic Law, states the central government is responsible for defending Hong Kong, while local authorities are in charge of maintaining public order.
The Hong Kong garrison routinely conducts drills in the city. Last year, the garrison conducted a similar joint drill in January.
