Sino-Russian exercise begins in earnest
By Sun Shangwu (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-24 05:45

The Russian destroyer also fired a Moskit missile to launch a precision attack against the enemy.

The one-hour blockade, signalling the beginning of the third stage of the eight-day joint military drill, was commanded by Lieutenant General Zhang Zhannan, commander of the North Sea Fleet and Admiral Viktor Fyodorov, commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet.

Top officers from the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), high-ranking government officials, representatives of member and observer states of the Shanghai Co-operation Organization (SCO), and Chinese and Russian veterans watched the war games as well as the following procession of the joint fleet yesterday.

Colonel Srinivasan Lakshmi Narasimhan from the Indian Defence Ministry told China Daily yesterday that the drill was "very impressive" and showed good co-ordination between the Chinese and Russian navies.

"It shows the PLA is becoming more open and more self-confident," he said.

India, together with Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia, joined the SCO this year as observer countries.

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov headed to the Chinese city of Qingdao yesterday and is scheduled to watch war games today and tomorrow, according to the Russian Defence Ministry.

Ivanov will watch troops landing an amphibious force and a battle to capture Langyatai, about 120 kilometres from Qingdao, said the ministry.