Chinese troops to take part in 10+8 joint drill in Brunei: spokesman

BEIJING, March 28 (Xinhua) -- China will send troops to take part in the ASEAN+8 joint drill to be held in Brunei in June, a Ministry of National Defense spokesman said Thursday.

The joint drill will be held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and eight partners (Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, the Republic of Korea and the United States), spokesman Yang Yujun said at a press conference.

In 2012, members of the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus agreed to hold joint humanitarian rescue and disaster relief exercises, as well as establish a group of military medical experts under ADMM-Plus, Yang said.

In April 2011, the first experts' working group meeting on humanitarian rescue and disaster relief under ADMM-Plus, co-chaired by China and Vietnam, made a three-year plan that includes the joint drill.

"China has kept close and positive communication with Brunei and other members," said Yang. "China hopes the joint drill will boost pragmatic cooperation in disaster relief among member countries, as well as the sound development of ADMM-Plus."