Amidst Doklam Stand-off With India, Chinese Troops Practice ‘Plateau Warfare’

Chinese troops conducted an exercise at an undisclosed location in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to ‘lay the ground for plateau warfare.’

The People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Western Theater Command  conducted the exercises amid tensions in Doklam from a standoff with ‘trespassing’ Indian troops, state-controlled Global Times reported.

The Western Theater Command covers Tibet, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Qinghai, Sichuan and Chongqing. China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Friday that more than 10 PLA units, including aviation units and armored forces, participated in the drills.

The five-minute-long video showed tanks firing at targets on hills, followed by helicopters firing missiles at ground targets.

The report did not mention the location of the exercises, only saying the drills "lay the ground for plateau warfare."

Local media reported that the Chinese PLA military exercises are meant to "strike awe in India," as the two sides have been engaged in a standoff in Doklam for more than two months, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which is closest to India, is where the Western Theater Command is most prominent.

In July, one of PLA's two plateau mountain brigades conducted live-fire drills in Tibet. The drills included the quick arrival of troops and different military units working together on joint attacks.

The brigade has long been stationed around the middle and lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River and is responsible for frontline combat missions.