China officially participates in Cobra Gold 2015 exercise

However, Chinese soldiers will not participate in combat operations but will focus mainly on humanitarian rescue operations.

The Thai military said on February 2 that China will officially participate in the annual multinational Cobra Gold exercise in 2015.

Observers say this could be the first time China has officially participated in the exercise, as last year it only sent 17 soldiers with the mission of helping build a school for Thailand.

Countries participating in Thailand's Cobra Gold exercise in 2014 (Photo: Bangkok Post)

The announcement was made as Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan will visit Thailand this weekend with discussions expected to include increased military cooperation and arms purchases.

The two countries have also held many annual bilateral exercises between special forces, navy and air force. Observers also believe that Beijing wants to take advantage of the opportunity to strengthen relations with Bangkok in the context of the not-so-smooth Thailand-US relationship.

This year’s Cobra Gold exercise will kick off early next week with the participation of 5,000 US troops, 4,000 Thai troops and 10,000 troops from more than 20 other countries. In June 2014, China also participated for the first time in the US-organized multinational naval exercise called Rim of the Pacific with three warships and a hospital ship./.

According to VOV