Navy has plenty of catching up to do, experts say

As the mainland marks the founding of the PLA Navy 60 years ago in Qingdao tomorrow, another equally important anniversary comes to mind - the annihilation of the bulk of China's first modern navy by Japan 115 years ago, a battle that shaped the courses of both nations.

The shocking defeat of the North Sea Fleet, considered the most powerful in Asia, came as a surprise to everyone at the time except the Japanese - who through careful reconnaissance discovered that the Chinese navy, while impressive in size, was so badly run that it was nowhere close to battle readiness.

The Battle of the Yalu River in 1894 led to China's crushing defeat in the first Sino-Japanese war, which marked the start of Japan's aggression towards its neighbour and a century of wars and social upheavals on the mainland. China had to wait half a century to assemble another credible naval force.

As the country unveils its modern naval force to the world tomorrow, one cannot help but wonder whether this new force can meet expectations and realise China's hopes of becoming a major maritime power.

Despite talk of China soon building its first aircraft carrier battle group and the leaps in progress its navy has made in recent decades, most experts agree it will still take years for the PLA navy to close the gap with other major maritime forces.

Ted Galen Carpenter, vice- president for defence and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, said the PLA navy had undergone dramatic changes since it was founded in 1949, going from a purely coastal defence force to a modern force capable of multi-task missions. But he added that it would take a decade or two for it to 'really get there'.