China and Russia will hold a joint missile defense drill next year, a senior Chinese defense official said on Tuesday. 

Cai Jun, a senior Chinese general, said in a joint press conference with Russian Lt. Gen. Viktor Poznikhir that the second China-Russia joint computer-simulated anti-missile drill "will not target any third party."

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It can be recalled that the first anti missile drill between the armed forces of the two countries was held in May this year.

"The two militaries held their first joint computer-simulated anti-missile drill in May in Moscow with the aim of training the capabilities of both sides in joint air-defense and antimissile actions," Jun said in the press briefing on the sidelines of the seventh Xiangshan Forum in Beijing. 

The announcement of the China-Russia anti-missile exercise comes despite their continued opposition to United States' plan to deploy a missile defense system in the region. In June, the US and South Korea had agreed to deploy an anti-missile defense system - Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) - with the American forces stationed in South Korea.

Beijing and Moscow have been opposing the move saying that it will affect the peace and stability within the Korean peninsula. Washington, on the other hand, maintained that the deployment is only meant for countering North Korean threat. 

Amid this situation, the Chinese and Russian defense officials again slammed US' plan to deploy an anti-missile shield on South Korean soil and asked Washington and Seoul to reconsider their plan at the Xiangshan Forum. 

"The US and South Korean decision to deploy THAAD is not conducive to resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula or to its peace and stability," said Jun, who is the deputy chief of the Central Military Commission Joint Staff Department's warfare bureau. "It severely damages the national security interests of China and Russia." 

Tagschina, Russia, Missile Drill, THAAD, US, South Korea