The beginning of Peace Mission 2007 was made difficult for Chinese soldiers by a language barrier and hygenic shortcomings.
Photo: AP
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Peace Mission Miserable
The Shanghai Cooperation Organization's joint military exercise Peace Mission 2007 began on Saturday at the training ground near the town of Chebarkul, Chelyabinsk Region. About 6000 soldiers from SCO member states Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are participating in the exercise. Their initial efforts at staging an antiterrorist operation were hampered by the language barrier and the lack of clean water and toilets.
A village has been built on the training ground consisting of 35 buildings up to three stories tall with their functions written on them in huge red letters (“hospital,” “school,” etc.). The road leading to Chebarkul was freshly repaved and houses along the way were repainted in blue and green, or covered with mammoth advertising banners, if a paint job would be cosmetically inadequate. Residents of those houses were checked by the police for place of employment, criminal and psychiatric records and possession of arms, some of which were temporarily confiscated. Trees were cut down and manhole covers were welded in place as well.
The general rehearsal for the exercise will begin today. The Chinese are refusing to airlift in their troops and equipment, saying that the terrain is unfamiliar to them. No drinking water or toilets were provided for the nearly 100 journalists at the viewing area near the command post. While the journalists accepted the situation stoically, the several dozen Chinese military assigned to accompany the journalists were less understanding. After difficulties with translation were overcome, it turned out that the Chinese were objecting not to the primitive conditions, but to the fact that there were ample facilities on the first floor of the command post, which was not made accessible to them.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 13, 2007
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