Xinhua reported on May 5 that the military will perform the “Cross-2009” Military Exercise, which will involve four military area commands. [1] Global Times, a newspaper under Chinese state-owned People’s Daily, published an article to further elaborate on the significance of this exercise: One, it is a joint tactical training practice with participation of four complete army divisions from four military commands, with near fifty thousand soldiers, sixty thousand vehicles and large equipment. Two, the exercise will take place at several training bases at the participating military commands. Recently, each command has established its own regional training base, but a single base is unlikely to accommodate four divisions, so the exercise is likely to be spread among several bases. Three, the announcement mentioned a “large scale of mobility,” implying that the division from each command may travel to another command’s base. Four, it is a study and application of the new military training manual that was adopted last year. Five, the air force and the army’s airmen will also participate in the practice. [2]
People’s Daily also reported that excluding the Nanjing military area command (responsible for military actions against Taiwan) is a goodwill signal sent to Taiwan. [3]
Source:
[1] Xinhua, May 5, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-05/05/content_11318736.htm
[2] Global Times, May 8, 2009
http://mil.huanqiu.com/china/2009-05/455556.html
[3] People’s Daily, May 13, 2009
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/1076/52982/9288626.html