China runs naval drills off PH shores

From the Manila Standard Today (Mar 26): China runs naval drills off PH shores

China racheted up the pressure in pressing its claim over the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea) by conducting a naval drill right at the Philippines’ northern backdoor near the Babuyan Islands.

People’s Daily, the Chinese Communist Party’s mouthpiece, said on Monday that the South China Sea Fleet under the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army recently dispatched several modern warships to carry out “high-sea training mission” in the Bashi Channel, also called Basi, a strait located between the borders of the Philippines near Babuyan Islands in Y’Ami, and Orchid Island in Taiwan.

While Bashi Channel is considered an international passage, China’s decision to conduct its high-sea training in the area, was seen as Beijing’s way of sending a strong message to the claimants in the South China Sea, including the Philippines, which had repeatedly rejected Beijing’s “excessive claims” of the disputed territories.

Early this year, the Philippines brought its case before an international tribunal under the United Nations Conventions on the Law of the Sea, and invited China to participate.

China rejected the invitation and insisted on resolving the dispute through bilateral talks.

A Chinese naval expert, Zhang Junshe, described the high-sea training of the Chinese Navy as a “routine” military training, which he said conforms with international laws.

He also urged other countries to refrain from conducting close-in tracking or interfere with the normal training of the Chinese naval taskforce.

He added that normalized high-sea training is indispensable to enhance Chinese Navy’s capability of “fighting and winning battles”

Zhang said the Chinese naval training was actually the second time that crossed the “first island chain” in 2013.

He identified the warships which are set to participate in the naval drills as “Lanzhou,” a guided missile destroyer, “Yulin” and “Hengshui” both guided missile frigates and the “Jinggangshan” an amphibious dock landing warship, which are equipped with long-range air-defense and anti-ship missiles, short-range quick air-defense guns and ship-borne helicopters, and are of comprehensive combat capabilities such as strong regional and point air defense as well as anti-submarine and anti-ship capabilities.

The taskforce, he said, would sail across the Bashi Channel and carry out a series of actual combat confrontation drills in the Western Pacific on such training subjects as maritime maneuver operation, maritime sovereignty protection, high-sea escort, support operation, and so on.

The Manila Standard Today tried to reach Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez and presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, but both were unavailable for comment as of press time, although the Foreign Affairs said late last week that they were still ascertaining the exact location of the drills.

The Chinese Navy’s drills comes at the heels of the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia in Moscow over the weekend.

Xi’s visit, according to Chinese news websites, was aimed at strengthening “exchanges and cooperation” between the military forces of the two countries.

But even before Xi’s visit, which includes meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, China had already decided to buy two dozen fighter jets (Su-35) and four Lada-class submarines from Russia.

Reports said the purchase was China’s first large-scale weapons technology purchases from Moscow in a decade.

The report, which did not give a value for the purchases, said it was the first time in 10 years China had bought “large military technological equipment” from Russia.

The deal comes as Beijing expands its military reach — it commissioned its first aircraft carrier last year — and is embroiled in a bitter territorial row with Japan over disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Two of the submarines will be built in Russia, with the other two to be built in China.

China and Russia are expected to co-operate further in developing military technology, the report said, including that for S-400 long-range anti-aircraft missiles, 117S large thrust engines, IL-476 large transport aircraft and IL-78 aerial tankers.

Xi visited Moscow from Friday to Sunday for talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, his first trip abroad since becoming head of state earlier this month.

The countries signed around 30 energy and other agreements during the visit.

Xi also met Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and became the first foreign leader to visit the Russian armed forces’ control centre.

Moscow and Beijing, which were once bitter foes during the Cold War, have strengthened cooperation in recent years to counterbalance what they see as US global dominance.

As this developed, another US warship docked in South Harbor in Manila on Monday, a day after three US warships docked in three different sites in the country.

A Philippine Navy statement said that the USS Reuben James (FFG 57), an Oliver Hazzard Perry- class guided missile frigate of the US Navy headed by Commander Daniel W. Valascho arrived on Monday for a routine port call/visit intended for the replenishment of logistic supplies, routine maintenance of shipboard and crew liberty.

It said the ship, which has 24 Officers and 172 enlisted personnel, will stay in the country until March 29.

Last week, the USS Ohio submarine, the destroyer USS Decatur, and the submarine tender USS Frank Cable docked in Subic in Zambales, Manila, and Cebu, respectively.

An RP-US Balikatan exercises are also scheduled next month.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2013/03/26/china-runs-naval-drills-off-ph-shores/