China To Train 5,000 Soldiers From Developing Countries Over Next 5 Years: Report

China has revealed plans that it will train 5,000 security personnel from developing countries over the next five years, South China Morning Postreported. The announcement appeared in a paper on Beijing’s Global Security Initiative published earlier this week.

The move comes as the country plans to create more international platforms for exchange and cooperation to address security challenges.

“Beijing plans to create more international platforms for exchange and cooperation to address security challenges in areas such as counterterrorism, cybersecurity, biosecurity, and emerging technologies, to improve governance capacity in non-traditional security,” according to SCMP.

The country will also encourage more exchanges and cooperation among university-level military and police academies. As per a paper by Global Security Initiative (GSI), the move will help China to address global security issues.

Li Wei, an anti-terrorism expert at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), told SCMP, “China used to train anti-terrorism police officers and officials in countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, and now it will expand the scope of this cooperation. The training and exchanges aim to strengthen efficiency in bilateral and multilateral cooperation, such as in the anti-terrorism field.” 

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that China would train 2,000 law enforcement personnel from Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member countries over the next five years and set up a training base focused on anti-terrorism.

The country also recruited as many as 30 former RAF pilots to defeat western warplanes and helicopters in October 2022. In December 2022, China offered to train 1,500 police and cybersecurity officials from Arab states.

Meanwhile, Western countries who are keeping a close watch on these activities, have sparked concerns about Chinese police practices. Last year, the British government said it was taking steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes.

“We are taking decisive steps to stop Chinese recruitment schemes attempting to head hunt serving and former UK Armed Forces pilots to train People’s Liberation Army personnel in the People’s Republic of China,” a Defence Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by the New York Times.