China plans to give training to over 5,000 soldiers from developing countries in next five years

HIGHLIGHTS

• China plans to train 5,000 soldiers in the next 5 years
• This is aimed to help China to address global security issues
• China will also promote more exchanges and cooperation between university-level military and police academies

China is planning to train 5,000 security personnel from developing countries in the next five years, reported South China Morning. This happens at a time when the country is looking to make more platforms for exchange and cooperation to fight security challenges.

"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 SCMP.

Besides that, the country will also promote more exchanges and cooperation between university-level military and police academies. The action will assist China in addressing concerns of international security, revealed a study by the Global Security Initiative (GSI).

Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), told SCMP, “China used to train anti-terrorism police officers and officials in countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, and now it will expand the scope of this cooperation. The training and exchanges aim to strengthen efficiency in bilateral and multilateral cooperation, such as in the anti-terrorism field.” 

In 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping declared that in the next five years, China will educate 2,000 law enforcement professionals from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member nations and establish an anti-terrorism training camp.

Additionally, the government has recruited up to 30 former Royal Air Force pilots to beat Western warplanes and helicopters in October 2022. China pledged to educate 1,500 Arab police and cybersecurity officials in December 2022.

Western governments, who are closely monitoring these actions by China have expressed concerns regarding Chinese police practices. The British government announced last year that it was taking steps to combat Chinese recruitment tactics.

“We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to head hunt serving and former UK Armed Forces pilots to train People's Liberation Army personnel in the People's Republic of China,” a Defence Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

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