BEIJING, Nov. 14 -- The US-China Disaster Management Exchange 2020, a three-day online seminar on humanitarian assistance and disaster reduction (HADR) between the Chinese and US militaries, wrapped up simultaneously in Nanjing, China and Hawaii, the United States respectively.
More than 50 military personnel from the two sides attended the exchange starting on November 11th. The Chinese team leader was Major General Zhao Chengcai , chief of staff of the 71st Group Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), and the US team leader was Major General David Wilson, commanding officer of the US Army Pacific 8th Theater Sustainment Command.
During the exchange, Lieutenant General Lin Xiangyang, commander of the PLA Eastern Theater Command Army, and General Paul J. LaCamera, Commander of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), met by video link and observed part of the seminar and exchange activities.
During the three-day exchange, the Chinese side shared its information on the coordination mechanism of international humanitarian assistance, military-civil cooperation in humanitarian assistance operations, military's participation in the fight against COVID-19 epidemic and the troops from the PLA Eastern Theater Command participating in flood fighting in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province and joining local efforts in prevention, resistance and disaster rescue of typhoon, etc. The information offered by the US side at the exchange centered on the topics including the multinational coordination center, emergency management program, disaster early warning system of the Pacific Disaster Center (PDC), military support to the local area amid the epidemic, flood profiles of the Mississippi River and military-civil cooperation in flood fighting and dangers rescue, etc.
The US-China Disaster Management Exchange 2020 is the 16th interaction between the two militaries under the exchange mechanism of HADR. The two sides agreed such exchanges will help the two militaries learn from each other and improve their capabilities in joint disaster relief operations.
