Liang Guanglie (left front), chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and his Russian counterpart Yury Baluyevsky (right front) inspect a guard of honor yesterday at the opening of war games in the Russian port city Vladivostok.  The military exercises will run for eight days. - Xinhua

Chinese and Russian troops opened eight days of military exercises in the Russian coastal city of Vladivostok yesterday - the first time ever the two nations have engaged in war games with each other.
After conducting a brief high-level strategic consultation for the exercise, Liang Guanglie, chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and his Russian counterpart Yury Baluyevsky jointly announced the official commencement of the military exercises at around 11am in the base of Russia's Pacific Fleet.
The exercise, code-named "Peace Mission 2005," is scheduled to involve nearly 10,000 troops from the two countries' armies, navies, air forces as well as airborne units, marine corps and logistic units, according to an earlier announcement from the Chinese Ministry of Defense.
Four hours after the commencement, the first phase of the military maneuvers officially started with staff officers carrying out strategic consultations and battle planning at the order of the chiefs of the general staff of the two armed forces.
The second and third stages of the drills will be held in the Shandong Peninsula and nearby offshore waters in eastern China.
While attending a press conference later in the morning, Liang denied the military exercise is aimed at any third party, concerns the interests of any third country or will pose a threat to any country.
The participating troops will focus on strategic maneuvers and battle planning, transportation and deployment of troops, and combat practice, said Liang.
The first Sino-Russia joint military exercises demonstrate the common will of the two armed forces to safeguard peace and stability in the region and the world at large, Liang said.
He said the main goal of the drills is to deepen Sino-Russian cooperation and coordination of the two armed forces in the areas of defense and security, and help strengthen their capability in jointly striking international terrorism, extremism and separatism.
"China is a responsible country and the People's Liberation Army is a strong force for maintaining world peace ...We are ready to develop friendly cooperation with the people and armed forces of all countries," Liang said.
Under the complicated and changing international and regional situations, strengthening strategic cooperation between China and Russia is conducive to their joint efforts to deal with new challenges and threats, Liang added.
Baluyevsky described the joint exercises as a brand-new form of military cooperation between Russia and China.
"The joint military exercises reflect the joint efforts of Russia and China to serve peace and stability in the region and the world at large," said Baluyevsky.
The holding of joint military exercises does not mean that the two countries want to forge a military bloc in any form or pose any threat to any other country, Baluyevsky said.
Russia pays close attention to the stable development of the military and political situation in the Asia-Pacific region, said Baluyevsky. "From this standpoint, we are engaged in establishing friendly cooperation with all countries in the region."
He said cooperation between Russia and China is growing in an enlarging scale and becoming increasingly comprehensive and active in a planned way. As members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which also includes the Central Asian countries of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, China and Russia have vowed to work with other members to maintain regional security and stability and promote regional development and prosperity, said Liang.
Baluyevsky also stressed the importance to strengthen antiterror cooperation within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
"As one of the major regional organizations in Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization is gradually becoming an important factor to consolidate regional peace and security," he said.
According to Sergey N. Goncharov, charge d'affaires of the Russian Embassy in China, the forces of terrorism, extremism and separatism have conducted activities in both China and Russia, and have been growing in the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
"Let them have a look at our joint military exercises and think over whether it is worth continuing their activities," said Goncharov. "We hope the joint military exercises could help cool down the 'fervor' of these terrorists, separatists and extremists."