State Councilor Wang Yong (R) and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Mohamad Yassin attend the opening ceremony of the fourth disaster relief drill of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), in Alor Setar, Malaysia, on May 25. [Photo/Xinhua]
China and Malaysia hosted the opening ceremony of the fourth disaster relief drill of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), in Alor Setar, Malaysia, on May 25.
State Councilor Wang Yong and Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Mohamad Yassin attended the ceremony.
A total of 3000 disaster relief personnel from 21 ARF members — including 606 from China — and 8 regional and international organizations will participate in the 5-day drill.
Participants include countries such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, and multilateral organizations such as the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management, United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Red Cross.
The ARF is the most influential and inclusive security dialogue and cooperation mechanism in the Asia-Pacific region, and the drill has been held every two years since 2009.
