China is to show off new warships, including nuclear submarines and destroyers, at a parade on Tuesday marking 70 years since its navy’s founding, a senior commander said yesterday, as Beijing flexes its increasingly well-equipped military muscle.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is overseeing a sweeping plan to refurbish China’s military by developing everything from stealth jets to aircraft carriers as China ramps up its presence in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been a key beneficiary of the modernization plan, as China looks to project power far from the country’s shores, and protect its trading routes and citizens overseas.
Photo: Reuters
Beijing last month unveiled a target of a 7.5 percent rise in defense spending for this year, a slower rate than last year, but still outpacing China’s economic growth target.
PLAN Vice Admiral Qiu Yanpeng (邱延鵬) told reporters in the eastern city of Qingdao that Tuesday’s naval parade — likely to be overseen by Xi himself, although China has not confirmed that — would feature 32 vessels and 39 warplanes.
“The PLAN ships and aircraft to be revealed are the Liaoning aircraft carrier, new types of nuclear submarines, new types of destroyers, as well as fighter aircraft,” Qiu said, without giving details. “Some ships will be revealed for the first time.”
It is not clear if China’s second carrier, an as-yet unnamed ship developed and built purely in China, is also to take part, but in the past few days, state media have run stories praising recent sea trials.
About a dozen foreign navies are also taking part. While Qiu did not give an exact number, China has announced the parade would include ships from Russia, Singapore, India, Thailand and Vietnam.
Vietnam frequently complains of Chinese military activity in the disputed South China Sea, where Taiwan also has claims.
China’s last naval battles were with the Vietnamese in the South China Sea, in 1974 and 1988, although these were relatively minor skirmishes.
Qiu reiterated China’s frequent stance that its armed forces are not a threat to anyone.
“It is fair to say that the PLAN has not brought war or turbulence to any place,” but China has been scarred by its past and needs good defenses, Qiu said.
“A strong navy is essential for building a strong maritime country,” Qiu said. “From 1840 to 1949, China was invaded by foreign powers from the sea more than 470 times, which caused untold suffering and deep wounds to the Chinese nation.”
A Chinese aircraft carrier group entered Japan’s economic waters over the weekend, before exiting to conduct drills involving fighter jets, the Japanese Ministry of Defense said yesterday. The Liaoning aircraft carrier, two missile destroyers and one fast combat supply ship sailed about 300km southwest of Japan’s easternmost island of Minamitori on Saturday, a ministry statement said. It was the first time a Chinese aircraft carrier had entered that part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a ministry spokesman said. “We think the Chinese military is trying to improve its operational capability and ability to conduct operations in distant areas,” the spokesman said. China’s growing
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
PUBLIC WARNING: The two students had been tricked into going to Hong Kong for a ‘high-paying’ job, which sent them to a scam center in Cambodia Police warned the public not to trust job advertisements touting high pay abroad following the return of two college students over the weekend who had been trafficked and forced to work at a cyberscam center in Cambodia. The two victims, surnamed Lee (李), 18, and Lin (林), 19, were interviewed by police after landing in Taiwan on Saturday. Taichung’s Chingshui Police Precinct said in a statement yesterday that the two students are good friends, and Lin had suspended her studies after seeing the ad promising good pay to work in Hong Kong. Lee’s grandfather on Thursday reported to police that Lee had sent
A Chinese ship ran aground in stormy weather in shallow waters off a Philippines-controlled island in the disputed South China Sea, prompting Filipino forces to go on alert, Philippine military officials said yesterday. When Philippine forces assessed that the Chinese fishing vessel appeared to have run aground in the shallows east of Thitu Island (Jhongye Island, 中業島) on Saturday due to bad weather, Philippine military and coast guard personnel deployed to provide help, but later saw that the ship had been extricated, Philippine navy regional spokesperson Ellaine Rose Collado said. No other details were immediately available, including if there were injuries among