China wraps up exercise with three warships in South China Sea
BEIJING: Three Chinese warships yesterday wrapped up a week of scheduled training exercises in the South China Sea, state media said, shortly after China’s sole aircraft carrier tested its weapons in the disputed region.
The f lot i l la of warships, including a destroyer that can launch guided missiles, had been conducting drills since yesterday last week and were now sailing to the eastern India Ocean and the Western Pacific, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Exercises by the Chinese ships, in particular the aircraft carrier Liaoning, in recent months have unnerved its neighbours, especially given long- running territorial disputes in the South China Sea.
The training included sudden attack drills and had been carried out successfully in poor sea conditions, Xinhua said.
The drills were “without an arranged script” and “as close as possible to real combat”, military affairs expert Yin Zhuo told the state broadcaster China Central Television.
Regular exercises by the Chinese navy in the high seas were an “unchangeable trend”, Yin said, though he added that China’s long- range naval capabilities were not sufficient to secure its interests in open waters. He did not elabourate.
China on Wednesday warned the United States against challenging its sovereignty in the South China Sea after reports that the United States was planning fresh naval patrols in the region.
The United States has criticised China’s construction of man-made islands and its build-up of military facilities in the sea, and expressed concern they could be used to restrict free movement. The US navy has conducted several “freedom of navigation” patrols through the waters.