China News Service, March 28. On the afternoon of March 28, the Ministry of National Defense held a regular press conference. Colonel Wu Qian, Director of the Information Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense and Spokesperson of the Ministry of National Defense, answered reporters’ questions.
Reporter: In mid-March, China, Iran and Russia held the "Security Bonds-2024" joint exercise in the Gulf of Oman. Please give the spokesperson further information on the situation.
Wu Qian: From March 11 to 15, in accordance with the annual plan and the consensus reached by all parties, China, Iran, and Russia organized the "Security Bond-2024" joint exercise near the Gulf of Oman. This joint exercise has three main features: First, the military strength is diverse. The Chinese, Iranian and Russian naval forces dispatched a total of 18 ships of various types including guided missile destroyers, guided missile frigates, guided missile cruisers, and large anti-submarine ships, and 8 multi-type aircraft including ship-based helicopters. The second is content focus. With the theme of "Creating Peace and Security Together", the exercise focused on anti-piracy, search and rescue, and set up more than 10 subjects such as shooting at sea and using force to rescue hijacked merchant ships. The third is close collaboration. The entire joint exercise included mixed training of ships and joint operations of troops. For the first time, China and Russia served as executive officers of complex subjects to further explore and improve the tripartite coordination mechanism. This exercise is not targeted at any specific country and has nothing to do with regional situations.
Work together to protect safety. China, Iran and Russia have carried out multiple joint maritime exercises, which are of great significance to strengthening cooperation and exchanges among the navies of the three countries and jointly safeguarding regional maritime security. China is willing to actively carry out maritime security cooperation and exchanges with all parties and make new and greater contributions to regional peace and stability.