US and China conduct joint disaster drills
San FranciSco: The Chinese and US militaries started a week-long joint humanitarian and disaster relief exercise and seminar in Portland, Oregon, in an effort to better coordinate responses to disasters.
The exercise began with a threeday academic seminar and will be followed by a command post exercise and a four-day live troop exercise, according to a news release from the Chinese side.
The activity, which started on Monday, is part of the consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.
It also is part of the exchange mechanism between the two militaries.
The seminar involves 15 military experts from both sides focusing on flooding and disasters.
The topics include international cooperation in climate models and disaster alerts, the management of flooding and disasters and civil-military operations.
The Chinese experts come from the Central Military Commission, China’s top military body; the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
The American experts are from the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Oregon Army National Guard, the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the US Geological Survey.
During the three-day programme, the experts will share experiences in domestic and international humanitarian disaster relief work, and participate in a tour of the Columbia River Flood Control project.
The command post exercise involves 35 participants from each side to set up a multinational coordination centre.
Military personnel from each side also will conduct academic exchanges and live troop exercises on helicopter search and rescue, ruins rescue, confined space rescue and other rescue operations.
Since it was launched in 1997, the US and China have held 13 academic exchanges, five command post exercises and four live troop exercises, involving more than 400 people from both sides. — China Daily/Asia News Network