Chinese troops to visit US Army base for medical drills

TACOMA — The month after a U.S. Navy warship sailed by an artificial Chinese island in the contested waters of the South China Sea, the Department of Defense is reaching out with a friendlier gesture.

The News Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/1QqwKhF) that the Pentagon picked the Army's Joint Base Lewis-McChord as the site of a week-long exercise for both U.S. soldiers and troops from the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

It will be the first time ground-level Chinese soldiers visit an Army base in the continental U.S. for a military-to-military exercise, although they will not participate in combat training.

About 80 Chinese soldiers are expected to visit the South Sound base for a series of medical drills to help them prepare for a humanitarian crisis.