Cambodia, China kick off 7th joint military drill

A joint military exercise between China and Cambodia started with a grand opening ceremony on Saturday in central Cambodia's Kampong Chhnang Province.

The drill, codenamed Golden Dragon-2025, is the seventh of its kind between the Chinese and Cambodian militaries to enhance practical cooperation between the two sides and contribute to building an all-weather China-Cambodia community with a shared future in the new era.

Military attachés from 14 countries, including China, the United States, Indonesia, Laos, Russia, and Vietnam, and relevant personnel from local government agencies and armed forces in Cambodia attended the ceremony at a training center of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

After the representatives of China and Cambodia delivered their speeches, the participants visited various types of equipment, such as infantry fighting vehicles, assault vehicles, helicopters, and unmanned aircraft. They took group photos to mark the event.

Themed peace, friendship, and cooperation, the Golden Dragon-2025 drill will focus on joint counter-terrorism and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.

"It's the first time that the China-Cambodia Golden Dragon-2025 joint exercise used the China-Cambodia Joint Support and Training Center at Port Ream for maritime drills. It's also the first time that air force helicopters and radar troops were dispatched to participate in this cross-border exercise. The drills were conducted in both land-air and sea-air directions, with multiple arms of the Chinese and Cambodian militaries training together, exchanging experiences, and jointly enhancing their capabilities to counter real-world terrorist threats through coordinated operations," said Jin Xing, a Chinese officer.

During the drill, there will be cultural and sports exchanges and vessel open-day activities. The Chinese side will also carry out activities such as medicine delivery services and provide educational assistance to local people.

Cambodia, China kick off 7th joint military drill

The death toll from a landfill collapse in the central Philippine city of Cebu has risen to eight by Monday morning as search and rescue operations continued for another 28 missing people.

The landfill collapse occurred on Thursday as dozens of sanitation workers were working at the site. The disaster has already caused injuries of 18 people.

Family members of the missing people said the rescue progress is slow, and the hope for the survival of their loved ones is fading.

"For me, maybe I’ve accepted the worst result already because the garbage is poisonous and yesterday, it was raining very hard the whole day. Maybe they’ve been poisoned. For us, alive or dead, I hope we can get their bodies out of the garbage rubble," said Maria Kareen Rubin, a family member of a victim.

Families have set up camps on high ground near the landfill, awaiting news of their relatives. Some people at the site said cries for help could still be heard hours after the landfill collapsed, but these voices gradually faded away.

Bienvenido Ranido, who lost his wife in the disaster, said he can't believe all that happened.

"After they gave my wife oxygen, my kids and I were expecting that she would be saved that night because she was still alive. But the night came and till the next morning, they didn't manage to save her," he said.

Death toll in central Philippine landfill collapse rises to eight