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China, Cambodia Hold Joint Military Drills to Shrug Off Coronavirus Fears

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - China and Cambodia bucked the global trend of event
   cancellations this week by starting joint military exercisesas a way
   toshow the world they're over the coronavirus outbreak and getting
   friendlier despite apprehension in other countries.'¯

   The two old friends that often chafe against neighboring Vietnam and
   the United States began their fourth annual joint military drill on
   Sunday. The activities in Cambodia'sKampotprovince will focus on
   humanitarian rescue work and counterterrorism work before ending April
   1, the Chinese official Xinhua News agency reported.'¯

   China and its military weaker counterpart are holding their "Dragon
   Gold 2020" drills amid a global wave of event cancellations to
   stopthespread of COVID-19, the deadly diseases caused by the
   coronavirus. China reports more cases than any other country, about
   80,000, since the virus was discovered there in December. But new cases
   have slowed to near none this month.'¯

   Officials in Beijing hope to show the world they are reemerging now
   politically and economically after the outbreak, which is still
   spreading in Western countries, while Cambodia wants to show solidarity
   so it can get more Chinese aid, analysts say.'¯

   "This is a way of China saying that things are getting back to normal,"
   said Alan Chong, associate professor at the S.RajaratnamSchool of
   International Studies in Singapore. "I think China wanted to put the
   COVID-19 virus behind it. There's every reason to shore up regime
   legitimacy as soon as possible."'¯

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