Chinese troops at trilateral drill praised
Print Edition
THE fifth annual installment of Exercise Kowari featuring Chinese, Australian and US armed forces, has wrapped up in Cairns.
The eight-day trilateral training mission on Australia’s far north coast included 30 elite soldiers from the Chinese marines, the Australian army and the United States army and marines.
Though combined into three mixed teams, Australian Lieutenant Colonel Hape Manaena said, “essentially we all did everything together, that was the whole point of it, to build teamwork and to strive to do things together, that’s what we were trying to do.”
Focused on adventure training, teams were tasked with kayaking across islands in the Great Barrier Reef, climbing Queensland State’s highest mountain Bartle Frere, canoeing, abseiling and cliff diving. “This joint exercise helped us build confidence and our endurance,” Manaena said.
Initiated in 2014, the annual Exercise Kowari has become an important platform for the armed forces of the three countries to deepen mutual understanding and strengthen trust.
This year witnessed the debut of the Chinese marines to the annual exercise, whose efforts earned high praise from Australian and US military officers.
“They are very motivated and absolutely a pleasure to work with ... they were like mountain goats and they have no fear of heights, it’s really amazing to see,” Manaena said.
Marine Rotational Force Darwin Commander, US Colonel Jay Schnelle said: “When you get put into these kind of uncomfortable situations, you learn about yourself and you learn to depend upon the team that are with.
“They understand their strengths and their weaknesses so much better after they do this kind of training.”
Chinese Marine Senior Colonel Chen Weidong echoed the sentiments of his American counterpart, saying that the difficult training was a major benefit to everyone involved.
“This exercise will help promote the development of the Chinese marines. Our soldiers learned many survival skills and strengthened their ability to cope in field operations.”
As well as learning from each other during the missions, amphibian scout of Chinese Marines Chen Qi said at the end of the day Chinese soldiers would also get a chance to teach the Americans and Australians kung fu fighting techniques in return for tips on their swimming strokes.
“Our foreign teammates were very friendly and helpful, sometimes we had problems in communication, but it did not matter because we could solve it by body language,” she said. “The best thing I gained is that I broke through my own limits.”
In fact, the soldiers involved in Exercise Kowari are not the only Chinese military personnel down under at the moment.
China has, for the first time, also sent a warship to participate in Australia’s largest maritime military exercise taking place off Darwin in northern Australia.
Involving 27 countries, the biannual Exercise Kakadu began last weekend and will see 23 ships, 21 aircraft, a submarine and 3,000-plus personnel taking part in a range of activities over the next few weeks.
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