Special Report: China Marks 60th Anniversary of Navy
Backgrounder: Brief history of China's People's Liberation Army Navy
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Guangzhou and Haikou, two advanced
destroyers of the Chinese Navy both deployed for anti-piracy mission near
Somalia, perform a drill with a large supply vessel.(Photo Source: China
Daily File Photo)
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Gallery>>> |
BEIJING,
April 23 -- Strolling through the forest of steel, you cannot help but feel
Qingdao is just another urbanizing Chinese city. But that all changes a few
steps south, when the skyscrapers give way to a seemingly endless, blue sea
gleaming under the sun.
"The sea of Qingdao looks best from here," said
37-year-old Pan Limin as he stood on the deck of the South Korean Navy's
advanced destroyer KDS Gang Gam Chan.
The geology researcher was among the 3,000 locals who
were given a chance to tour foreign warships moored at the Port of Qingdao
yesterday morning.
As he looked on to the water, a philosophical Pan
added: "The vast sea is extremely important for our nation to protect China's
growing interests and national security.
"I hope the Chinese warships grow stronger and take
us further out to the sea," he added as he snapped photos of his 6-year-old son
and young nephew before stepping off the destroyer.
Today, the 5,500-ton vessel left the port and headed
east to join the 20 warships from 14 countries to take part in the People's
Liberation Army (PLA) Navy's first multi-national fleet review.
The grand parade has been hugely anticipated by those
in China and foreign countries, while many experts said it would not just be a
military display but also a strong message to the Chinese public, urging them
not to overlook the nation's interests on the sea.
As for the rest of the world, around 90 percent of
China's global trade relies on the ocean, making it of increasing strategic
importance for a nation with a 18,000-km coastline.
"The
country's national interests overseas need to be protected with a strong navy,"
said Peng Guangqian, a Beijing-based strategist, on the eve of the PLA Navy's
60th anniversary today. "China needs a sustainable naval force that can always
protect its expanding interests."
And as long as the people become aware of their
interests offshore, the country will become a maritime power sooner or later,
added Ni Lexiong, a political professor at the Shanghai University of Political
Science and Law.
But it has already taken centuries for the navy to
come this far.
Boasting a vast land territory, river networks and
affluent natural resources, leaders in ancient China used to think the country
could sustain itself. Even after the seven voyages led 50,000 km to the west by
legendary navigator Zheng He in the early 15th century, the "Middle Kingdom"
never learned how to develop on the ocean.
Shortly after Zheng's adventures, Portuguese explorer
Bartolomeu Dias sailed around the southern tip of Africa in 1488, opening a
route to the east. The trade channel rules the world to this day.
Many historians still hold the ancient authorities
that neglected China's maritime potential responsible for the "shameful" rule
over China by western powers in modern times, claiming the failure to maintain
its first modernized navy cost China dearly.
The Imperial Beiyang Fleet, established during the
Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), was said to be the "best navy in Asia" and the "eighth
best in the world" in the late 1880s. But it was destroyed ships from Japan
within six hours, partly because the Qing leaders were careless with the
country's maritime security.
After the defeat, the commander even ordered the
destruction of the fleet's 7,100-ton, flagship Dingyuan to prevent it being
seized by the enemy. The armored turret ship was the biggest battleship in East
Asia at that time and was still the largest combat vessel in China's recent
naval history.
As a consequence of the defeat, China was forced to
concede Taiwan to Japan and did not retrieve it until after World War II.
"Both
our glory and shame arise from the sea," Read Admiral Zhang Deshun, Chinese
Navy's deputy chief of staff, told China Daily. "I hope more Chinese will soon
learn what the ocean means for their country."
In 2006, a 12-episode television documentary titled
The Rise of Great Powers discussed how maritime-based western powers like Spain
and the United Kingdom came into being. The shows ignited debate on whether
China should also strengthen its protection of maritime interests.
"As a strategic force to guide the country's growth,
the navy must be strengthened," said Rear Admiral Yang Yi, a senior military
expert at the National Defense University in Beijing.
With this in mind, the PLA has offered consistent
defense budgets to upgrade weapons and technologies in recent years, added
Senior Colonel Li Jie, a researcher at the navy's Military Academy.
The bold move to send fleets to protect Chinese
merchant vessels against Somali pirates last December has also caught the
attention of the nation. It was the first overseas military combat mission for
the navy since Zheng He's six centuries ago.
Netizens praised the efforts to protect national
interests, even though the mission zone near Somalia is 5,000 nautical miles
from China's shores.
A recent poll of more than 40,000 Chinese Internet
users showed 90.4 percent were concerned with the disputes over maritime
interests, while a similar survey showed more than 80 percent would like to see
the Chinese Navy expanded.
The public has also been engaged in talks over the
nation's first aircraft carrier, a plan suggested by the navy and Ministry of
Defense. Tens of thousands of Chinese backed the idea, while about 80 percent of
netizens in a web survey said they would happily donate their income towards the
project.
"China can't develop without aircraft carriers. The
ship is part of China's plan to reach further into the high seas in the near
future," said Li Daguang, a weapons expert also with the National Defense
University of the PLA.
Though the focus to hold firm in nearby waters
remains, the message is clear that the country must rule the waves with more
overseas missions in areas vital to China's foreign trade, analysts said.
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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)
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Gallery>>> |
Many
used to see the PLA Navy as a floating coastal defense force, a "brown water
navy", but that is no longer the case, explained Dr David M. Finkelstein,
director of China studies at the US-based Center for Naval Analyses. He told
China Daily: "Today, the PLA Navy is pushing further and further out to sea."
Commander Simon Brown, captain of the Australian
Navy's HMAS Success tanker, which also celebrates its 23rd commission
anniversary today, said China's naval growth is as normal as that of any other
major power in the past.
"Certainly, China is changing from a coastal navy to
a more regional navy. However, it is not just a navy that is growing, but a
country that is growing, economically and externally," he said.
The historic anniversary is not just a reckoning of
the past, but rather an opportunity for the navy in China and the country to
evolve ideas on how to watch over its maritime interests, said Peng.
(Source: China Daily)
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