Chinese Navy contributes to peaceful development on oceans

The 12th Chinese naval escort taskforce under the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) met with the 11th Chinese naval escort taskforce in the Gulf of Aden on July 18, 2012.

When the Chinese naval escort taskforces were having the 11th reunion on the Indian Ocean, the Chinese Navy's "Zheng He" oceangoing training ship on the task of "Harmonious Mission - the 'Zheng He' ship's round-the-world voyage" was paying a friendly visit to Ecuador.

"This is the second round-the-world voyage organized by the Chinese Navy after its first one 10 years ago. The total voyage is around 32,000 nautical miles," says Li Zhongyue, a cadet on the training ship.

Following the advance of transformative construction and the expansion of tasks and missions, the Chinese Navy's military operations other than war (MOOTW) have proceeded from the coastal waters to the open seas, carrying out tasks ranging from vessel visits to ocean escort tasks, as well as missions covering from evacuation and protection of overseas Chinese to medical assistance.

The first Chinese naval escort taskforce set sail from Sanya of South China's Hainan province on December 26 in 2008. It was the first time for China to utilize military force to protect national strategic interests overseas, the first time to organize maritime combat power to fulfill international humanitarian obligations overseas, and the first time to conduct high-sea protection of crucial transportation route safety. By July 15, 2012, the Chinese Navy has successively dispatched 12 taskforces composed of 31 ships and 26 aircraft, and has completed 471 escort missions for 4,715 Chinese and foreign ships, with 56 ships rescued, received and protected, or boarded for rescues.

On March 1, 2011, the "Xuzhou" warship, which was on escort mission in the Gulf of Aden, sailed thousands of miles to the Mediterranean to escort the merchant ships which carried 2,142 Chinese personnel evacuated from Libya. It created a new record for the MOOTW of the PLA. In 2010 and 2011, the "Peace Ark" hospital ship visited 9 countries in Asia, Africa and South America in two trips for the "Harmonious Mission" medical services, which fully displayed the image of China as a big country to actively fulfill international obligations.