Special Report:  China Marks 60th Anniversary of Navy

Backgrounder: Brief history of China's People's Liberation Army Navy 

    BEIJING, April 23 -- The 60 years' history of the navy of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has witnessed both great triumph in battlefields and substantial progress in its weaponry and equipments.

    Right from purchasing, repairing and imitating, the navy has now noticeably improved its capability of independently designing and manufacturing combat platforms, weaponry and equipment. As a result, the operational capability of the navy has seen a rapid rise.

The Chinese navy's Great Wall 218 submarine docks at Qingdao port yesterday. It will join warships from China and other countries today to mark the 60th anniversary of the navy. (Photo Source: China Daily/Reuters) Photo Gallery>>>

    In the early 1980s, the navy had considerably upgraded its weaponry and equipments, and acquired offshore operational capability. It was mature to adopt an offshore defense strategy, due to the rising strategic status of the offshore battlefields.

    In such a background, based on Deng Xiaoping's thought on the offshore defense strategy, the navy formulated and established its plan focusing on offshore defense. This strategy endowed the navy new missions. Its duty to cooperate with the army to defend the landmass was curtailed, while undertaking the tasks of ensuring the unification of the nation, defending the integrity of the territory, as well as safeguarding the maritime rights and interests of China.

    The offshore defense strategy makes clear to the international community that the missions of the Chinese navy are to defend the country's maritime rights, interests and security, safeguard its economic development, and serve its peaceful diplomacy.

    China will not build an offensive navy cruising the globe, but concentrate on its offshore area. Even if in future the navy is modernized, the defensive nature of the naval strategy will not change.

    In order to defend China's territory and sovereignty, and secure its maritime rights and interests, the navy decided to set its defense range as the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, and the South China Sea. This range covered the maritime territory that should be governed by China, according to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, as well as the islands in the South China Sea, which have been its territory since ancient times.

Senior navy officers visit a Chinese naval submarine at Qingdao port, east China's Shandong Province, on April 22, 2009. Heads of delegations of foreign navies, who came to Qingdao to attend the celebration marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of Chinese Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, visited Chinese naval submarine here on Wednesday. (Xinhua/Li Gang) Photo Gallery>>>

    As part of the offshore defense strategy, the navy carried out defensive counterattack operations in Nansha Islands, and resumed and garrisoned seven islands and reefs. In the same period, the navy perfectly accomplished the missions of maritime scientific expeditions, naval military exercises, naval weaponry experiments, and assistance to the nation's economic development.     

    Along with upgraded naval equipments and strengthened operational capability, as well as the extension of China's maritime interests, the navy has accelerated its pace of modernization in a bid to more effectively fulfill its missions.

    It seeks to promote the capability of capturing and maintaining the command of the sea and air in the main directions of operation in the offshore area. The capability to effectively control, when necessary, the major sea routes linking China's waters, and to operate in the seas adjacent to China's maritime territory, should also be strengthened.

    In the 21st century, the modernization process of China has entered into a new phase. China's maritime security has also seen new circumstances and uncertain disputes, and faced multifaceted threats and challenges.

    Furthermore, the arms development in the world is dashing at a revolutionary pace, shaping the future's information-oriented wars, which will greatly affect navies around the globe.

    In the future, the struggle for the command of the sea will emerge in multi-dimensional battlefields, including the land, the sea, the air, the outer space, the cyber space, and so forth.

    Based on the current force of the navy, China should maintain its offshore defense naval strategy, and guarantee the command of its seas.

    With better naval weaponry and stronger operational capability, the navy could gradually extend its operational range beyond the offshore area. The offshore area, however, will still be its focus.

    The navy has encouraged creative reforms in the contents and methods of military exercises, highlighted joint operation exercises, and strengthened its comprehensive operational capability of fighting battles in the offshore area, as well as its nuclear counter-attack capability.

    The navy scientifically organizes its battle, tactic, specialized technical, and general exercises. The integrated exercises joining all war-fighting elements in the information age are emphasized, while exploring the training methods in complex electromagnetic environment.

    The navy stresses on exercises for peaceful military operations, and has proactively joined bilateral and multilateral joint exercises.

    New types of submarines, destroyers, corvettes, and airplanes are now produced. The navy has formed a weaponry system with second-generation equipments as the main body and third-generation equipments as the core.

    (Source: China Daily)

Chinese navy sees role further afield

    BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese navy is undergoing a transformation to protect the country and its maritime rights, experts said ahead of the 60th founding anniversary of the navy on Thursday.

    The navy has been following the offshore defense strategy in the 1980s. A long coastline and developing sea-borne trade mean China needs to have a strong blue-water presence, said Zhuang Congyong, a researcher with the Naval Command Academy (NCA) of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA).Full story 

Chinese navy sails onto world stage

    BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) was making final preparations for Thursday's international fleet parade in the eastern port of Qingdao to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its founding.

    The parade will feature 21 navy ships from other countries.   Full story

China celebrates 60th anniversary of navy

    QINGDAO, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) kicked off a grand maritime ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of its navy at 6 p.m. Monday off the coast of the eastern city of Qingdao.

    PLA Navy Commander Admiral Wu Shengli announced the start of the four-day festivities, set to conclude on April 23, which would include seminars, a sampan race and a fleet review.   Full story

Navy admiral: China to develop sophisticated marine weapon systems

    BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Large surface combat ships, supersonic cruise aircraft, high-speed intelligent torpedoes ... These are a few sophisticated marine weapons China plans to build.

    "The Navy will move faster in researching and building new-generation weapons to boost the ability to fight in regional sea wars under the circumstance of information technology," Navy Commander Admiral Wu Shengli told Xinhua in an exclusive interview-- one week ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy.Full story

Chinese navy expands foreign cooperation

    BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- China's navy is stepping up foreign exchanges and cooperation to cope with non-traditional security threats in oceans, Navy Commander Adm. Wu Shengli said here Wednesday.

    Since the new century, the Chinese navy has conducted 37 joint military drills with its foreign counterparts in areas including non-proliferation of weapons of destruction, security defense of sea-land-air channels, anti-terrorism and joint search and rescue, Wu said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua.  Full story

U.S. navy missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald arrives in Qingdao, a port city in east China's Shandong Province, April 19, 2009, to attend an international fleet review on April 23 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army Navy. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

Mexican naval soldiers stand on the masts of their military ship upon its arrival at the Qingdao port in east China's Shandong province, April 18, 2009. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>