Two mainland warships that escorted Hong Kong vessels through dangerous waters off Somalia played host to more than a thousand visitors at Stonecutters Island yesterday.
The missile destroyer Haikou and missile frigate Yuncheng, which have escorted 34 ships from Hong Kong in the past four months, will be in the city for five days and open to the public for three days. This is the PLA Navy's fourth port call in Hong Kong in the 15 years since the handover.
Members of the public snapped up the 6,000 tickets to visit the vessels in less than an hour on Thursday.
The warships, which belong to naval escort task force 171, carry some of the most advanced missiles and cannons in the Chinese navy.
They have conducted 40 escort missions since November in the Gulf of Aden, guarding 240 Chinese and foreign ships, including the 34 from Hong Kong.
The task force also saved a foreign ship from a pirate attack. 'These are the top ships in the navy. They have comparatively stronger capability to fight attacks from the air, sea and surface,' Rear Admiral Li Shihong said after taking Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen on board for a visit. Li, a task force commander and deputy chief of staff of the South China Sea Fleet, said the navy had no plans to set up bases in other countries.
The Somalia operation was a collaborative effort in which several countries shared intelligence, he said. Most of the time the warships sent warning signals to the pirates when they spotted them, he said.