Chinese navy normalizes open-sea training

The Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) has normalized the open-sea training, said Qiu Yanpeng, commanding officer of the open-sea training taskforce of the PLA Navy and deputy commander of the East China Sea Fleet under the PLA Navy, when granting an interview to the reporters.

A taskforce consisting of five main warships from the East China Sea Fleet under the PLA Navy conducted open-sea training in the waters of the West Pacific Ocean from November 27 to December 11, 2012. This is the 7th open-sea training organized by the PLA Navy this year.

"When I was still a captain, we were unable to set out for open-sea voyage because of the small tonnage of the ships and the obsolete equipment," remembered Qiu Yanpeng who has 39 years of military service and ever served as a destroyer captain and then commander of a flotilla. "We could just do some 'doorstep' drills." According to his briefing, open-sea training is a common practice for the navy of various countries. With the constant improvement of China's naval equipment and support capability, the waters for maritime training are also keeping expanding. Open-sea training has become an effective means and inevitable choice to enhance the combat capability of the PLA Navy.

Speaking of the open-sea training this time, Qui Yanpeng stated that the troop unit successively conducted a series of training subjects, such as round-the-clock sailing and defense, taskforce high-sea combat and replenishment, coordinated operation of warships and helicopters for joint search and rescue, with desired effects accomplished.

"There is still a considerable room for improvement in the intensity and effectiveness of our open-sea training, whether it is compared to the naval forces of other countries or concerned with the requirements of Chinese navy building and development." Qiu Yanpeng held that the PLA Navy will continue to normalize the open-sea training in the future, and strengthen the systematic combat capability through the information-based military training in the high sea so as to accelerate the transformation of the combat capability generation mode.

As for the taskforce cruise in the waters near China's Diaoyu Islands during its return voyage, Qiu Yanpeng stated that the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islands have been part of China's inherent territory since ancient times. It is totally proper and legitimate for the Chinese navy to cruise the nearby waters where it has the jurisdiction. It is beyond reproach. The Chinese navy has the unshirkable duty and responsibility to defend China's maritime territories and safeguard China's maritime rights and interests.