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Ambassador hails Russian-Chinese military cooperation

In September, Russia and China conducted the massive Vostok-2018 exercises in Russia’s Far East

BEIJING, December 12. /TASS/. Ties between Russia and China in the sphere of national security and inter-army cooperation signal openness and a high level of political trust between the two countries, Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov said on Wednesday.

"As for military cooperation, this is a natural area of cooperation for the level of relations between our countries, and it is developing like the others," the diplomat told a news conference summing up the outcome of this year.

"For us, diplomats, it is important that besides other things this cooperation is always an indicator of a high degree of political trust between our countries," Denisov said.

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Vostok 2018: Taking a sneak peek at Russia's biggest military drills

According to the diplomat, Chinese-Russian inter-army cooperation is absolutely transparent. "There are no secrets here. <…> Joint participation in any military drills is only part of a rather broad program of cooperation," the envoy stressed, noting that these contacts range from joint military drills on the ground and at sea to cooperation in military medicine and military orchestras.

In September, Russia and China conducted the massive Vostok-2018 exercises in Russia’s Far East, involving nearly 300,000 Russian servicemen, 3,000 Chinese soldiers and officers and also representatives of Mongolian forces, he recalled.

"Such major events are not held often <…> the program of our working cooperation will certainly develop," the ambassador said. "All this is built on a transparent basis, and foreign monitors are always invited for such events as military drills. Any who is willing to and is interested in this may visit them and see this with their own eyes.".

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