The China-Laos "Peace Train-2026" Joint Exercise Opens in Vientiane

Xinhua News Agency, Vientiane, September 7 (Reporter Zhao Xu, Liu Xiaowei) The China-Laos "Peace Train-2026" humanitarian medical rescue joint exercise opened in the Laotian capital of Vientiane on the morning of the 7th. Leaders from the Lao Ministry of Defense, the General Political Department of the Lao People's Army, the General Logistics Department, the General Technical Department, and the Ministry of Public Security, as well as the Defense Attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Laos, members of the Chinese guidance and coordination team, and participating military personnel from both China and Laos attended the opening ceremony.

At the ceremony, the national anthems of both China and Laos were played first, followed by speeches from the Minister of the General Logistics Department of the Lao People's Army and the head of the Chinese guidance and coordination team, who announced the official start of the joint exercise.

Major General Chanthith, Minister of the General Logistics Department of the Lao People's Army, stated that the China-Laos "Peace Train" joint exercise and the series of medical service activities serve as a platform to enhance the two militaries' joint rescue and disaster response capabilities, fully reflecting the close and friendly relations between the two parties, countries, and militaries. He believes that this joint exercise will further promote the deepening of military health cooperation between the two countries.

Colonel Wu Dan, head of the Chinese guidance and coordination team, expressed that since 2017, the two militaries have held this series of joint exercises six times. The return of the "Peace Train" medical team to Laos is not only a vivid practice of building a new era of all-weather China-Laos community of shared future but also an important practice to deepen exchanges and cooperation in logistics and medical fields between the two militaries, which will further enhance the traditional friendship between the two countries.

According to He Zhen, the chief director of the joint exercise from the Chinese side, this activity will last until late September, with over 700 personnel deployed by both sides. This joint exercise is set against the backdrop of international humanitarian medical rescue in the face of super typhoon disasters, establishing a three-level command and four-level rescue system, relying on health trains, field medical equipment, unmanned intelligent equipment, etc., to organize mixed training, full-process joint exercises, and live drills, exploring cross-border joint medical rescue operational models, and further enhancing the two militaries' collaborative action and emergency response capabilities in health services.

During the exercise, both sides will also organize medical services, cultural exchange, and other activities.