China’s CCTV channel reported on September 9 that a special task force brigade under the command in charge of the Tibet area and an air force brigade coordinated to organize parachute training `in remote areas with higher altitudes.`
CCTV said more than 300 soldiers from the special task force brigade successfully performed the first jump on the Tibetan plateau, about 1,000 people will participate in the training course to `lay a good basis for armed parachute training.`
Chinese special forces practice parachuting over Tibet
Chinese special forces practice parachuting on the Tibetan plateau.
The training course also aims to `improve the three-dimensional attack capabilities` of soldiers on the Tibetan plateau, while `improving the overall combat capabilities` of Chinese forces stationed here.
Information about the exercise on China Military Online, the information site of the Chinese military (PLA), appeared to indicate the training was related to recent border tensions with India.
On September 8, the PLA Central Theater Command released images of at least three H-6 bombers and a Y-20 transport aircraft at an airport believed to be located in Tibet.
Paper, a news site based in Shanghai, reported that among the heavy vehicles participating in the parachute drill were 107 mm rocket guns with a range of about 8 km.
Location of clashes between Indian and Chinese soldiers in recent months.
Border tensions between India and China escalated from late April and early May, culminating in a brawl on June 15 that left dozens of soldiers on both sides injured.
The Indian government on August 31 accused China of launching `provocative military activities` three months after `the Chinese army annexed 60 square kilometers of Indian territory in Ladakh`.
However, at a press conference on the same day, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied accusations that its military crossed the LAC, the actual border between the two most populous countries in the world.
On September 3, media reported that a Tibetan-origin special forces member of India’s Forward Special Forces (SSF) was killed and another person was injured in a mine explosion near Pangon Tso lake, raising suspicions.
