A Navy fleet of the People’s Republic of China, comprising North China Sea Fleet vessels missile destroyer Qingdao and the missile frigates Yantai and Yancheng, carried out patrol and training missions in the South China Sea last week, Xinhua reported.
The training missions conducted in the area of the Nansha Islands included drills aimed at repelling piracy attacks and expelling vessels in violation of Chinese maritime integrity.
The patrol mission comes in the immediate aftermath of a fresh feud between China and Japan over military movements near a disputed group of uninhabited East China Sea islands.
The most recent tension was raised with the alleged aiming of weapons on the part of a Chinese warship, targeting radar on a Japanese vessel situated in the area.
The Chinese Ministry of Defence rejected Japan’s complaint about the radar as unfounded, claiming that its ship “ did not use fire control radar”.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, February 15, 2013