The PLA at Home and Abroad - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

200 total personnel to hunt down “several dozen international
‘terrorists’” who had “fled to the China-
Pakistan border from a third country, carrying light
weapons and explosive devices” where they “constructed
hasty fortifications.” After establishing a joint
command post, reconnaissance forces (which may or
may not have been special SOF troops) found the enemy
hideout. Chinese and Pakistani forces, supported
by a psychological operations vehicle, mortars, and
recoilless rifles, attempted to surround and destroy
the “terrorists,” using the reconnaissance element to
block enemy movement. After the terrorists ignored
an offer to surrender, the Chinese and Pakistani units,
acting as separate units, assaulted the enemy in a coordinated
attack from the flanks. Following their linkup,
the troops of the two countries “held a dignified
troop review ceremony.” 17
Probably in an effort to balance relations with Pakistan
and India, shortly after “Friendship-2004” on August
15, 2004 (India’s Independence Day), a 46-member
Chinese border defense troop delegation visited
an Indian armed forces frontier station to celebrate the
occasion. (Similar cross-border good will visits have
been reported with other countries. 18 ) Then on August
24, 2004:
A dozen or so smiling Indian soldiers entered the Chinese
territory through the Chang La Pass [Lipu-Lekh
Pass on the Indian side] to participate in the Chinese-
Indian border defense forces’ joint mountaineering
training that took place in Purang County on that day.
At 1500, 12 capable mountain climbers from each side,
selected by the border defense forces on either side, set
off from a location 4,412 meters above sea level, traversed
a 3,000-meter-long mountainside strewn with
riprap, and smoothly completed the joint training. In
their exchange, the soldiers from the two countries hit it
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