The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has completed the 10 day long Exercise Aman Youyi-2023 (Peace and Friendship 2023) joint military exercise which also featured Cambodian, Lao, Malaysian, Thai and Vietnamese forces.
The exercises which focused on joint counterterrorism efforts and safeguarding maritime security concluded in Zhanjiang, south China's Guangdong Province.
This was the first time that the exercise series was held in China and included training in urban counterterrorism, maritime counterterrorism and anti-piracy operations, and joint air defence.
The sea drills featured the Chinese guided-missile destroyer Nanning, guided-missile frigate Bayannur, comprehensive supply ship Weishanhu and guided-missile frigate Suqian, operating together with the Royal Malaysian Navy frigate KD Selangor and Vietnamese Navy frigate 016-Quang Trung to rescue a hijacked cargo ship from pirates at sea.
The land drills, focusing on counter-terrorism operations, featured participating troops from China, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam, with hostage rescue from simulated city blocks.
