China, Malaysia to hold first joint military drills

The People's Liberation Army and the Malaysian military will hold their first-ever joint exercises next year, the Malaysian defence minister said yesterday, despite their rival claims to the South China Sea.

The announcement by Hishammuddin Hussein, who is in Beijing to meet military leaders, follows President Xi Jinping's visit to Kuala Lumpur earlier this month, in which the two countries pledged closer ties.

"Malaysia and China are expected to launch our first joint exercise in 2014 after the memorandum of understanding on defence co-operation was signed in 2005," Hishammuddin said in a statement.

The statement gave no details on the planned drills such as their location, scale, or which military branches would be involved. They would be the first-ever drills between the two countries' armed forces.

Hishammuddin, who met his counterpart, General Chang Wanquan , also said he invited Chang to visit Malaysia's South China Sea naval base of Mawilla 2 on Borneo.

The visit would be aimed at launching a "direct-contact" relationship with China's fleet in the South China Sea.