Latest News:  

English>>Military

Tokyo monitors Chinese fleet

By ZHAO SHENGNAN  (China Daily)

08:39, July 04, 2013

A Chinese fleet passed through the strategic Tsushima Strait into the Sea of Japan on Wednesday and will join Russia's Pacific fleet this week for China's largest-ever naval drill with a foreign partner.

In response to the movement by the Chinese fleet on the high seas between Japan and South Korea, Japan's Self-Defense Forces sent P-3C surveillance aircraft and a Shimakaze missile destroyer to watch the fleet and later released photographs of the warships, media reported.

The Chinese fleet consists of four destroyers, two guided-missile frigates and a supply ship.

Observers said China made a legal and reasonable choice to join Russia for the "Joint Sea 2013" exercises, scheduled from Friday to July 12 at Peter the Great Bay, near Vladivostok.

The Tsushima Strait is the best route for a Chinese fleet going to Russia because of its legitimacy as a sea route based on international and Japanese law, favorable ocean currents there and international custom, said Xing Guangmei, a Beijing-based military law expert.

The strait is the eastern channel of the Korea Strait, connecting the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea. Its location has made it an important route and is Japan's strategic fortress.

According to United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, ships enjoy freedom of navigation in related waters of the strait. Therefore, it is not compulsory for ships crossing the strait to inform the Japanese government in advance, she said.

"It is not surprising for the Chinese fleet, just like many foreign ships, to cross the strait, one of the busiest waterways in the world," Xing said. "It's a more-convenient choice than the other channels."

She added, "There are no threats that need Japan's special attention, as the fleet is just passing through, while Japan is the gatekeeper of the strait."

Li Shuyin, an expert on Central Asian and Russian military studies with the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences, said Japan plays up every Chinese naval movement, including regular exercises, in the Pacific. Japan aims to defame China's military and seeks to boost its own military development, which is restricted by Tokyo's postwar constitution.

"But as the joint exercises between China and Russia have become regular and normalized, the Chinese navy is likely to continue crossing the strait in the future," Li said. The close distance between China's and Russia's Pacific fleets gives them similar security challenges and incentives to cooperate, Li added.

Eleven warships, a submarine and three planes from the Russian navy will join drill.

The two navies will practice liberating a ship seized by pirates and will conduct search-and-rescue operations, Roman Martov, a spokesman for Russia's Pacific Fleet, told the Itar-Tass news agency on Tuesday. They will also practice organizing joint air, anti-submarine and anti-ship defenses.

Russia and China have regularly held joint naval drills since 2005 within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. However, the upcoming drill will be the second exercise conducted by the two countries outside the organization. The first was in the Yellow Sea in April 2012.

Fang Fenghui, the PLA chief of the general staff, and his Russian counterpart, Valery Gerasimovon, also announced on Monday that "Peace Mission 2013", a joint anti-terrorism military drill between China and Russia, will be in Russia's Chelyabinsk from July 27 to Aug 15.

"The joint drill conducted by the two militaries of China and Russia do not target any third party," Fang said. "Their aim is to deepen cooperation between the two militaries in the training field, boost capacity in coordinating military activities and serve the purpose of safeguarding regional security and stability."

Xinhua and AP contributed to this story.


【1】 【2】 【3】



We Recommend:

Seaplanes of North Sea Fleet in training at sea

Aviation regiment of South Sea Fleet in flight training

Naval landing ships can perform diverse military tasks

Military training base improves teaching mode

14th Chinese naval escort taskforce arrives in Pakistan

Chinese navy's Su-30MKK2 fighters in attack training

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:YanMeng、Yao Chun)

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. Special operation members in training

  2. PLAAF's female fighter pilots

  3. Thousands celebrate gay rights in San Francisco

  4. Working in aircraft maintenance division

  5. Dance camp helps kids get training

  6. Heilongjiang issues blue rainstorm alert

  7. Fascinating display of Shanxi crafts

  8. Li Na ousted by Radwanska

  9. Diagnose crisis of China's solar sector

  10. Chinese grads' offbeat jobs

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. Wealthy individuals 'see education as asset'
  2. Unite to prevent violence against women
  3. Dogs are the responsibility of their owners
  4. Pakistani PM's China trip to boost economic co-op
  5. Chinese company looks to take a bite out of Apple
  6. PwC: HK IPOs expected to boom this year
  7. Abe's 'values diplomacy' goes against the grain
  8. New features of the 5th Cross-Strait Forum
  9. Six questions about China’s space lecture
  10. Time to rethink taste for freshly killed poultry

What’s happening in China

Audition for dating with rich

  1. 32 endangered birds released into the wild
  2. Summer heat wave sweeps across China
  3. Dad still doubted son's death after 56 phone calls
  4. China builds emergency radio broadcast network
  5. Heavy rains kill 11, affect millions in SW China