Agence France-Presse, Russian and Chinese special forces began a joint counterterrorism exercise Sept. 4 dubbed “Friendship 2007” in Moscow, underlining the neighbors’ growing security ties.
The special forces were to practice their response to a hypothetical hostage-taking situation in an administrative building on the Chinese-Russian border.
At the start of the exercise, interior ministry forces cordoned off a building where pretend hostages were being held by balaclava-clad attackers armed with machine guns and rocket launchers.
About 100 Russian personnel and 87 Chinese servicemen were taking part in the exercise, which took place at an interior ministry base on the edge of Moscow.
The drill, to which journalists were invited, was set to run until Sept. 6. It concentrated on techniques for negotiating with hostage-takers.
The exercise is a follow-up to large-scale military exercises held by Russia, China and four Central Asian states last month in the Russian province of Chelyabinsk.
This week’s exercise “represents practical action in exchange and cooperation between the interior forces of China and Russia,” said Wu Shuang Zhan, the head of Chinese interior ministry forces.
The opening of the exercise began with a flower-laying ceremony at a monument to Russian forces who have perished in conflicts during and since the Soviet Union’s 1991 collapse, including in Chechnya.
Asked about continued criticism of law enforcement agencies’ conduct in the Beslan school hostage disaster, which took place three years ago this week and claimed more than 330 lives, Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev insisted that avoiding civilian casualties was a priority.
He added that Russia and China’s interior forces were engaged in “very wide-ranging exchanges.”
“We should look again at what new methods China has and the methods Russia has for combating terrorism. Mutual exchanges help us to more effectively solve this problem,” Nurgaliyev said.
China and Russia’s military cooperation has been criticized by human rights campaigners who accuse the two countries of crushing peaceful dissent under the pretext of combating terrorism.
