CHINA: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin launch a joint naval drill, before attending a regional summit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai

Record ID: 566389

  • Title: CHINA: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin launch a joint naval drill, before attending a regional summit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai
  • Date: 20th May 2014
  • Summary: XI WALKING INTO BANQUET HALL WITH PUTIN
  • Embargoed: 4th June 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADF5N90BUS8AMC5RB6I9ICKTYW
  • Story Text: Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin officiated a ceremony in Shanghai on Tuesday (May 20) that marked the start of a 7-day joint naval drill in the East China Sea.
    The two presidents attended a welcoming ceremony and spoke to generals at the official opening of the drill.
    China's East Sea Fleet and Russia's Pacific Fleet together sent 14 warships, two submarines, nine warplanes, six helicopters and two special forces to their third joint naval exercise that is expected to last until next Monday (May 26), according to the official Xinhua news agency.
    For the first time in a Chinese-Russian naval drill, warships from both sides will be arranged together and will carry out battle exercises beyond visibility, Chinese state television CCTV reported.
    Exercises would include helicopter deck landings, search and rescue operations and live-fire drills on sea and air targets, CCTV added.
    A statement from China's Defense Ministry said this would be the countries' first joint naval drill to be conducted in the northwest sea areas off the disputed islands known as Diaoyu in Chinese and Senkaku in Japanese.
    The two previous joint drills took place off the coast of Vladivostok in July 2013 and at the Yellow Sea in April 2012.
    After the launch of the drill, Xi and Putin hosted a banquet to welcome heads of states gathered in Shanghai for a regional summit.
    U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Afghan President Hamid Karzai joined Xi and Putin for the event.
    The Fourth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) is aimed at strengthening regional cooperation.

    "Tomorrow, the 4th CICA (the Fourth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia) will officially begin. This will be a distinguished gala in the history of Asia. Every country is paying a lot of attention to this summit. This suggests the urgency and importance of the issue of security in Asia," Xi said during a speech at the banquet.
    He added he hoped the summit could help nations to find solutions to their security challenges.

    "I believe the current CICA (the Fourth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia) will provide meaningful solutions to the security threats and challenges faced by each nation. I also believe it will create great influence over Asia's peace and stability, as well as world peace and development," Xi told attendees.
    Heads of states, one government head and 10 chiefs of international organizations were also in attendance, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
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