China and Asean conclude joint navy exercises

BEIJING: Naval forces from China and members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) wrapped up their first joint maritime exercise over the weekend, with representatives of the participating countries expressing their hope for more drills in the future.

Eight ships, three helicopters, five observers and more than 1,200 naval personnel from China and 10 Asean countries participated in the on-shore activities and exchanges and drills at sea in Asean-China Maritime Exercise-2018 from Oct 22 through Sunday.

The eight-ship fleet conducted various drills in waters east of Zhanjiang, Guangdong province, including search and rescue operations and medical evacuation drills with helicopters landing on ships.

The Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea was used throughout the entire exercise, with the vessels efficiently communicating, coordinating and acting within its framework, enhancing all parties’ understanding and application of the rules, said Peng Guliang, Chinese co-commander of the exercise’s combined task group command at sea.

That command consisted of officers from various countries and was jointly led by co-commanders from China and Singapore.

It fully embodied the expanded mutual trust among Chinese and Asean navies, Peng said.

Different ships took turns commanding the exercise’s six drills.

Rotation of ships leading the drills is a common practice in a multilateral exercise, said Aaron Li Jun Hong, commanding officer of Singaporean frigate Stalwart, adding “this is an opportunity when participating navies take charge of different drills, and we can learn from each other”.