The two countries have sent troops to participate in Brazil’s “Operation Formosa”

The US and Chinese navies are taking part in joint military exercises led by the Brazilian Armed Forces for the first time, the South China Morning Post cited Brazil’s navy as saying.

“Operation Formosa” is one of Latin America’s largest military exercises; it has been held since 1988 near the city of Formosa, Brazil. The monicker is unrelated to the historical name for Taiwan.

About 3,000 military personnel from countries including Argentina, France, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Republic of Congo and South Africa, have been taking part in the drills, which kicked off last week and will conclude on September 17.

A Brazilian Armed Forces spokesperson told the SCMP that this year’s exercise includes 33 personnel from the Chinese Navy and 54 from the US Navy.

Last year, the US sent troops from its Southern Command, while China took part as an observer.

“It is customary to invite friendly nations to participate in these exercises,” the Brazilian Navy was quoted as saying. “The importance of such invitations is directly linked to the opportunity to promote greater integration between the Brazilian Navy and the forces of friendly nations.”

The purpose of the exercises was reportedly to simulate amphibious operations in which warships conduct attacks on a hostile coastal region and plan to land on a designated beach.

The report pointed out that Chinese and American militaries haven’t held joint military exercises since 2016, when Washington invited Beijing to the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, also known as Rimpac. China sent five warships and about 1,200 troops.

The Pentagon, however, halted further invitations over China’s “continued militarization of disputed features in the South China Sea,” according to its then-spokesman Christopher Logan.

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The South China Sea is the subject of numerous overlapping claims by countries in the region. Tensions have been aggravated by the activities of the US and its allies, which routinely send so-called ‘freedom of navigation’ missions through the area claimed by Beijing as its exclusive economic zone.

Aside from taking part in Brazil’s Formosa exercise, the Chinese are currently also participating in Russia’s ‘Ocean-2024’ drills.

On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the launch of the country’s biggest naval drills in its modern history. Ocean-2024 is expected to be held simultaneously in the Pacific and Arctic Oceans as well as the Mediterranean, Caspian and Baltic Seas. The maneuvers involve more than 400 battleships and submarines as well as auxiliary vessels, some 120 aircraft and over 90,000 personnel.

Four vessels and 15 aircraft of the People’s Liberation Army have joined the exercises, Admiral Aleksandr Moiseev, Acting Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, has said.

Representatives from 15 other nations were also invited to the drills as observers, according to Putin.