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

PAP personnel from the Shanghai Firefighters Special
Duty Force. 58 The exact composition of the Chinese
contingent was not disclosed, but exercise events
included reaction to a serious earthquake, fire, explosions,
and chemical leaks, as well as procedures for
personnel rescue from collapsed buildings, tunnels,
and traffic accidents. Observers at the exercise judged
the Chinese team’s chemical disaster capability to
have reached “advanced level of the world.” 59
Defense officials from China and Gabon agreed in
2007 to conduct a joint humanitarian medical operation.
“Peace Angel-2009,” conducted from June 17-30,
2009, was “the first medical service joint operation conducted
by the Chinese military with [a] foreign military
and the first bilateral joint operation co-organized
by the Chinese military with an African country in Africa.”
Some 60 PLA medical personnel and epidemic
prevention personnel from the Bethune International
Peace Hospital and the Academy of Military Medical
Sciences traveled to Ogooué-Ivindo Province in Gabon
to take part in a three-part operation consisting of
professional training, a rescue exercise, and medical
aid consisting of providing free medical services to the
local people. The rescue exercise scenario involved a
mine collapse and included poisonous gas detection,
medical rescue, classification of wounded, and evacuation
elements. 60 The humanitarian assistance aspect
of the deployment was very busy as “the participants
both from China and Gabon diagnosed and treated
18,000-odd patients and performed more than 300 operations
in 4 different areas in Gabon.” 61
At the same time as “Peace Angel-2009” was underway
in Africa, chemical defense and medical personnel
from China and Singapore were executing
“Cooperation-2009” at the Guangzhou MR Compre-
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