Chinese PLA conducts actual combat drill in Tibet involving nuclear, biological and chemical attack

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has recently carried out a “real combat drill” involving anti-nuclear, chemical and biological warfare in Tibet Military Region. As per a report published in the Chinese version of an official PLA news portal on Tuesday, the exercise was carried in late November by a joint military brigade of PLA including commandos, armored assault groups and soldiers trained for chemical warfare. Tibet military region comes under the Western theatre command (WTC), the largest of China’s five commands that is responsible for the Sino-India disputed border from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. The report comes at a time when India and China are entangled in a protracted border stand-off in eastern Ladakh. The article said, ‘In late November, an actual combat drill of a synthetic brigade of the Tibet Military Region kicked off on the snow-covered plateau.’ It was headlined: “A synthetic brigade of the Tibet military region carried out a cross-day and night mobile multi-arm coordinated actual combat drill”.

The article, which is published in Chinese only, described the scene of the drill, the commands and the role of different wings and the participating soldiers. However, it did not specifically mention the location or the duration of the complete drill. A rough translation of the Chinese article says, “After rockets were launched and the armored assault group was deployed, army engineers were called in to install explosives on the targeted “obstacle”. Subsequently, the commanding officer warned of “nuclear, biological and chemical attack”. “Encountered a nuclear, biological and chemical attack! Suddenly, an immediate guidance command came. Li Qunfeng, commander of the third battalion, put on gas masks, quickly passed through the poisoned zone, and then reported the situation to the command post, requesting the chemical defense detachment to help and decontaminate.”

“The drill closely focused on the ‘enemy’ situation, focusing on key and difficult subjects such as day and night maneuvering and multi-arms coordination, and tempered the firepower attack capability of the troops in complex environments,” the report added. The report carried photos of the exercise including one in which soldiers were wearing gas masks depicting fighting scene in a poisoned zone. In a report in November, the US department of defense said China is carrying out research in chemical and biological dual-use technology, media reports suggest. It is part of the PLA’s continuous efforts to remain combat ready along the Sino-India border, where it is said to have deployed a large number of troops and heavy cache of advanced weaponry. Chinese media has reported about improved facilities and living conditions for its border troops in high-altitude areas of Tibet and Xinjiang, indicating that they have been deployed for a long haul. Several rounds of military and diplomatic talks have only resulted in partial disengagement of troops and there are few friction areas are left.