DM Monitoring
BEIJING: The Chinese military recently conducted joint exercises aimed at the destruction of key hostile hubs in a high-elevation mountainous region, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Tibet Military Command revealed after a fatal clash broke out on the China-India border.
Featuring multiple types of combat forces including long-range artillery systems, ground-to-air missile systems, special operative forces, army aviation troops, electronic countermeasure forces and engineering and anti-chemical warfare troops in a joint operation group, the live-fire drills recently took place in the Nianqing Tanggula, or Nyenchen Tonglha, Mountains at an elevation of 4,700 meters, news website chinanews.com reported, citing the information from the PLA Tibet Military Command.
The drills simulated a strike operation on hostile hubs from multiple dimensions, and trained the high-elevation troops’ joint operation capabilities.
In the early stages of the drills, scout troops first used technical measures to gather intelligence, grasped hostile activities and opened paths for the main forces by scouting and clearing obstacles.
After target coordinates were set, artillery and snipers launched precision strikes on hostile frontline commanding outposts and foot soldiers, during which attack forces marched into enemy depths as drones were set to fly for reconnaissance and obstacle sabotage.
Dozens of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles took advantage of the open paths and seized hostile frontiers, while anti-aircraft fire stopped hostile attack helicopters and friendly helicopters sent troops to target locations.
In the final assault, all weapons deployed in a radius of several dozen kilometers formed a joint fire strike system and eliminated all opposing forces.
China’s advanced weapons including Type 15 lightweight tanks can be seen in photos attached to the report.
Zhang Jialin, a brigade commander who participated in the drills, said the troops overcame a challenging harsh environment in a coordinated approach from land and air, integrated different modules and systems, practiced the tactics of all terrain joint strikes and multidimensional assaults. The drills laid a solid foundation for the troops to conduct all kinds of missions, Zhang said in the report.
These kinds of drills demonstrated the PLA’s capability to win a regional, high elevation conflict in its early stages by decisively eradicating the hostile headquarters and commanders, a PLA veteran who was once deployed in Tibet and asked not to be named told the Global Times on Tuesday.
The report came at a time when a clash broke out in the Galwan Valley region on the China-India border on Monday. Indian media reported that an Indian Army colonel and two soldiers were killed in the clash and Chinese side also sustained casualties. While escalation to a large-scale military conflict is very unlikely, the Chinese military will be prepared, analysts said.
The arrogance and recklessness of the Indian side is the main reason for the consistent tensions along China-India borders. In recent years, New Delhi has adopted a tough stance on border issues, which mainly resulted from two misjudgments.
It believes that China does not want to sour ties with India because of increasing strategic pressure from the US, therefore China lacks the will to hit back provocations from the Indian side. In addition, some Indian people mistakenly believe their country’s military is more powerful than China’s. These mis-perceptions affect the rationality of Indian opinion and add pressure to India’s China policy, according to an Global Times editorial published on Wednesday.
The US has wooed India with its Indo-Pacific Strategy, which adds to the above mentioned misjudgment of some Indian elite. In 2017 when Indian troops crossed the line and entered the Doklam area to openly challenge China’s territorial sovereignty, their craze was caused by such arrogance. Such an aggressive posture has won praise from the Indian public, which means that the Indian elite’s mentality toward China is unhealthy and dangerous. China does not want to clash with India and hopes to peacefully deal with bilateral border disputes. This is China’s goodwill, not weakness. How could China sacrifice its sovereignty in exchange for peace and bow to threats from New Delhi?
China and India are big countries. Peace and stability along border areas matter to both countries as well as to the region. New Delhi must be clear that the resources that the US would invest in China-India relations, are limited. What the US would do is just extend a lever to India, which Washington can exploit to worsen India’s ties with China, and make India dedicate itself to serving Washington’s interests.
The gap between China’s and India’s strength is clear. China does not want to turn border issues with India into a confrontation.
