China to train 5,000 soldiers from developing countries over next 5 years

According to a report by the South China Morning Post, the announcement has come as China wanted to address threats like terrorism, cyber scams, etc. Besides, the initiative is also seen as an alternative to the Western-led security order, which was first proposed by President Xi Jinping during the Boao Forum for Asia annual conference last April.

“Beijing plans to create more international platforms for exchange and cooperation to address security challenges in areas such as counterterrorism, cybersecurity, biosecurity, and emerging technologies, to improve governance capacity in non-traditional security,” according to South China Morning Post.

China will also encourage more exchanges and cooperation among university-level military and police academies.

Last year, China announced it to train 2,000 soldiers from the SCO countries over the next five years and set up a training base focusing on anti-terrorism work.

China also recruited as many as 30 former RAF pilots to defeat western warplanes and helicopters in October 2022.

China’s efforts to boost multilateral and bilateral security training programmes have expanded in recent years, spreading to countries in the Middle East, the Pacific Islands, and Central Asia.

In December 2022, China offered to train 1,500 police and cybersecurity officials from Arab states.

As per the SCMP, China has helped train police in the Solomon Islands to improve their “anti-riot capabilities” since 22 January.

Meanwhile, on the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Moscow’s ally China urged both sides to agree to a gradual de-escalation, warned against the use of nuclear weapons and said conflict benefited no one.

China has refrained from condemning its ally Russia or referring to Moscow’s intervention in its neighbour as an “invasion”. It has also criticised Western sanctions on Russia.

“All parties must stay rational and exercise restraint, avoid fanning the flames and aggravating tensions, and prevent the crisis from deteriorating further or even spiralling out of control,”China said.