China holds maritime drills for the first time with Cambodia ahead of Golden Dragon 2023

China and Cambodia have started their first-ever naval drills in the Cambodian waters. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense in a statement said that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Command participated in the naval exercises known as China-Cambodia Golden Dragon 2023 with its Cambodian counterpart.

According to the Global Times, the Chinese mouth-piece, a Type 071 comprehensive landing ship of the Chinese PLA Navy carrying Chinese troops conducted its first-ever exercise with Cambodian vessels. In a press release by the PLA Southern Theater Command, the Type 071 ship Jinggangshan arrived in Cambodian waters and conducted an exercise over coordinated navigation and communications after traveling 100 hours across 1,300 nautical miles.

The Jinggangshan made communication with two Royal Cambodian Navy patrol boats during the drill and established contact before practicing coordinated navigation in various formations. This is the first time that the militaries of China and Cambodia have engaged in such a maritime practice.

High level of military exchange and cooperation between China and Cambodia

“In the two-hour navigation and communication exercise with the Cambodian navy, our organization and command were precise, coordination was close, and communications were smooth,” said Captain Xu Jinfeng, the commanding officer of the Jinggangshan, as reported by China Central Television (CCTV) as reported by ANI. 

As part of the joint naval drill exercise, Golden Dragon-2023, the Jinggangshan was carrying soldiers from the Chinese Army, Navy, and Joint Logistic Support Force. On Wednesday, the ship departed from Zhanjiang in the Guangdong Province of South China.

According to a Beijing-based military expert who spoke to the Global Times on Sunday under the condition of anonymity, the joint naval exercise that took place prior to the formal start of the Golden Dragon-2023 joint exercises demonstrated a high level of comprehensive military exchange and cooperation between China and Cambodia. The expert predicted that similar naval encounters would occur more frequently in the future.

Golden Dragon-2023 exercise is the fifth in a series of yearly military cooperation

Another CCTV report on Saturday claimed that the Jinggangshan practiced managing emergencies while en route to Cambodia in order to increase the ship's capacity for long-distance delivery. Due to the lengthy voyage, challenging sea conditions, and unpredictable weather, the operation improved the sailors' ability to handle emergencies, according to the report.

The fifth joint military drill between China and Cambodia, Golden Dragon-2023, will take place from March 20 to April 8 at a training facility in Cambodia. The Golden Dragon-2023 joint exercise is the fifth in a series of yearly routine military cooperation activities between the two armies, according to a statement from the PLA.

(With ANI Inputs)