The Aman Youyi-2023 multinational joint exercise enters its actual combat phase in a training camp in Zhanjiang, South China’s Guangdong Province on November 22, 2023. Photo: Screenshot from the WeChat account of China’s Ministry of National Defense

An ongoing military exercise hosted by China and joined by five Southeast Asian countries has entered its actual combat phase. Participated by ground, maritime and aviation forces, the drills will comprehensively enhance participants’ interoperability and trust, experts said on Thursday.

Separated into land part and sea activities, the actual combat drills of the Aman Youyi-2023 multinational joint exercise started on Wednesday, the PLA Daily reported on Thursday.

In the land drills sections, troops from China, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam commenced an elimination mission over mock terrorists who entrenched in simulated city blocks, applying tactics including air-land integration and multidimensional encirclement, and successfully rescued simulated hostages.

A photo released with the PLA Daily report showed wheeled infantry fighting vehicles and tactical assault vehicles surrounded buildings while a helicopter hosted rappelling mid-air.

An anti-piracy actual combat exercise at sea was held simultaneously with the land drills.

The Type 052D destroyer Nanning, the Type 054A frigate Bayannaoer, the Type 903 comprehensive replenishment ship Weishanhu and the Type 056A corvette Suqian of the Chinese Navy formed a task group with the Selangor offshore patrol vessel of the Malaysian navy and the Quang Trung frigate of the Vietnamese navy.

As the task group locked on the target, the Bayannaoer left the group and spearheaded an assault on the mother ship of the mock pirates, while the Nanning, the Selangor and the Quang Trung coordinated flexibly and surrounded a simulated cargo ship hijacked by the mock pirates from multiple directions, successfully neutralizing all of the mock pirates and rescuing the simulated hijacked cargo ship, the PLA Daily reported.

The naval task group also practiced joint air defense, in which Chinese fighter jets covered the warships, according to a Wednesday press release by the PLA South Sea Fleet.

The joint exercise featured ground, maritime and aviation forces from six countries working together on comprehensive counter-terrorism and anti-piracy drills, which displayed a high level of and further enhanced interoperability among the participants, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Thursday.

Amid the Philippines’ provocations over Chinese islands and reefs in the South China Sea, other ASEAN members showed that cooperation and friendship are the main themes which bond the region together, the expert said.

The actual combat drills enabled the participants to explore and optimize the procedures and mechanisms in joint counter-terrorism and anti-piracy operations, further deepened military mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation, and demonstrated their confidence and determination in jointly safeguarding regional peace and stability, the PLA Daily reported, citing the director’s department of the exercise.

The Aman Youyi-2023 exercise, literally meaning Peace and Friendship-2023, kicked off in Zhanjiang, South China's Guangdong Province on November 13. It is the largest edition of the Aman Youyi series of exercise in terms of number of participating countries since the first edition in 2014, and also the first time the Aman Youyi series of exercise has been held in China.