People tour the missile destroyers Kaifeng in Qingdao Port, East China's Shandong Province, on April 22, 2024. The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy holds open day events in multiple coastal cities including Qingdao around April 23 to mark the 75th anniversary of its founding. Photo: VCG

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy held open day events in multiple coastal cities across China around Tuesday to mark the 75th anniversary of its founding, with numerous people getting onboard advanced warships to enjoy the moment of pride and patriotism with naval officers. Military experts said the Chinese navy will keep developing and getting more powerful in the future to meet the demand of safeguarding the nation and world peace. 

April 23 marks the 75th anniversary of the PLA Navy. From Saturday to Wednesday, the public in Qingdao will be able to tour the missile destroyers Guiyang, Shijiazhuang and Kaifeng, missile frigate Handan, supply ship Kekexilihu, and submarine rescue vessel Hongzehu at the pier 3 and the Qingdao International Sailing Center pier.

Most of the other naval vessels have been involved in major missions such as escort missions in the Gulf of Aden authorized by the UN Security Council, overseas port visits and joint exercises, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

In addition to Qingdao, the navy said it would organize simultaneous open day activities at its barracks in other cities, including Dalian, Yantai, Ningbo, Wuhan, Xiamen, Guangzhou, Haikou and Sanya.

Apart from the open day events, at the ongoing 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS), Commander of the PLA Navy Hu Zhongming delivered a speech on Tuesday and proposed "four-point initiative" to the commanders and senior delegates from navies around the globe. 

In order to realize sustainable peace, security and prosperity on the sea, the navies of different countries must work together and cooperate with sincerity, and keep contributing positive influences of the naval forces around the globe, Hu noted. 

First, to have close communication and exchanges, and to reinforce the foundation of mutual trust; second, to promote quality and efficiency of cooperation, and to push joint development; third, to strengthen operation coordination, and to safeguard the maritime security; fourth, to increase public goods and improve maritime welfare, Hu said. 

Military experts said the initiative shows China's sincerity to peacefully use its naval strength to contribute to world peace, but some Western countries, especially the US and a few of its allies, hype the "China threat" rhetoric by distorting China's intention of developing a strategic naval force, and the real reason is that these countries found that their maritime hegemony is unable to maintain dominance because of the powerful Chinese navy.

"China is facing serious potential threats from the most powerful naval forces in regions like the South China Sea and the Taiwan Straits in recent years, as the US is increasing its military presence in relevant waters to encourage the Taiwan secessionists and threaten China's sovereignty by using its ally the Philippines to provoke China. In addition, China has increasing overseas interests and nationals that need protection, so it's very reasonable and legitimate for China to develop a more powerful navy," said a Chinese military expert who asked for anonymity.

China's Naval Journey: 75 Years of Transformation Graphic: Xu Zihe/GT

 

China's Naval Journey: 75 Years of Transformation Graphic: Xu Zihe/GT

 

China's Naval Journey: 75 Years of Transformation Graphic: Xu Zihe/GT

 

China's Naval Journey: 75 Years of Transformation Graphic: Xu Zihe/GT

 

Strategic navy

The PLA Navy has gained multiple achievements and has brought many good news in the past one year to the people who are paying attention to the development of China's maritime military strength. 

On Monday, the PLA Navy released the first video with the theme about the submarine force. The video includes the scene about the launching of JL intercontinental-range submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), with some observers speculating that the SLBM could be the JL-2, and this could be the first video scene about JL-2.

Senior Captain Tang Li, an expert at the PLA Naval Research Academy, told the Global Times on Monday that the video has showed many details about real combat drills with the support of a massive system. 

In March, Yuan Huazhi, political commissar of the PLA Navy, said at the two sessions that China will unveil its fourth aircraft carrier soon and answer the question as to whether it will be nuclear-powered.

In January 2024, the Party committee of the PLA Navy's first Type 055 large destroyer was honored as title of "role model of the times" after the warship completed a series of challenging missions including fending off foreign military provocation in combat drills.

In May 2023, The Shandong aircraft carrier group of the PLA Navy recently wrapped up its first far sea exercises in the West Pacific, the east side of the island of Taiwan, in which it collaborated with the Rocket Force, land-based aviation forces and other surface combat units beyond the first island chain.

All of these development and achievements prove that the Chinese navy has become a force with strategic strength, which consists of aircraft carriers, nuclear submarine, world-class missile destroyers and amphibious assault ships, to enable the country to not only protect its own sovereignty and territorial integrity and deter the hostile hegemonic forces, but also its overseas interest worldwide, as well as provide public goods for peace to the people around the globe, Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert and media commentator, told the Global Times.

In April 2023, more than 1,300 Chinese personnel were safely evacuated after the Chinese military sent naval vessels to evacuate Chinese nationals from Sudan. The Global Times learned that this is the third time the Chinese Navy has carried out such evacuation missions, and only the second time that a Chinese warship has directly docked at a foreign port for evacuation missions.

The troops on the evacuation mission were from the guided missile destroyer Nanning and the Type 903 comprehensive supply ship Weishanhu, which were carrying out the 43rd escort mission of the PLA Navy. They were carrying a ship-borne helicopter and have more than 490 officers and soldiers, including dozens of special operations soldiers. Among the 678 people evacuated in the first batch, 668 were Chinese nationals and 10 foreigners, according to the official WeChat account of the Chinese Navy.

In 2011, missile frigate Xuzhou was sent to Libya to carry out an evacuation mission, which was the first time the Chinese Navy has participated in overseas evacuation operations, setting a new record for the Chinese military's non-war military deployment.

The evacuation of Chinese personnel from Yemen in 2015 was the first time that Chinese warships were directly docked at foreign ports for an evacuation mission.

Apart from the evacuation mission, in summer 2023, the PLA Navy's Peace Ark hospital ship visited five countries in the South Pacific, sailing across 12,000 nautical miles and hosted more than 40,000 diagnoses and treatments there.

The world is still experiencing great turbulence, with more and more wars and military conflicts occurring in different regions around the globe. Hence, security is desperately needed for many people, and the PLA Navy has proved that its powerful fleets are not "threats" but the contributors of the peace. The Chinese navy's warships are welcomed and needed by its partners worldwide, and they won't act like some other naval forces who frequently conduct military actions to bomb other countries, said experts.