Chinese warships conduct livefire drills in Mediterranean
In a demonstration of the Chinese navy’s expanding global reach, the country’s latest-generation warships conducted livefiring drills in the Mediterranean Sea this week while en route to joint exercises with the Russian navy, the defence ministry said on Wednesday.
The destroyer Hefei, frigate Yuncheng and support ship Luomahu took part in Monday’s drills involving the ship’s deck guns and small arms, the ministry said in a notice on its website.
“Maintaining a strict schedule of targeted exercises accomplishes transit, training and improvement en route, raising the flotilla’s training levels and capabilities,” it quoted flotilla commander Liu Hui as saying.
The ships will next take part in the “Joint Sea 2017” exercises in waters off the Russian cities of St Petersburg and Kaliningrad.
China’s navy is the world’s second-largest behind the US and is increasingly operating in the Mediterranean, aided by the construction of a naval logistics base in Djibouti. Two naval ships departed on Tuesday from the Chinese port of Zhanjiang with personnel to man the facility.
While China says the base is needed to support peacekeeping, anti-piracy and other missions in the region, Beijing’s rivalry with the US is considered a key driving force behind the country’s military expansion. AP