The HMS Exeter will engage in joint training exercises with the PLA next week
The British destroyer HMS Exeter steamed into Hong Kong yesterday as part of a goodwill visit before preparing for a joint training exercise with the PLA.
Commander Martin Durkin, who served in Hong Kong in the 1980s, said his crew was looking forward to some 'rest and recuperation' before heading north to the waters off Shanghai on Monday.
The Exeter, one of Britain's air-defence warships, with 240 sailors, was recently engaged in training exercises with the Australian, New Zealand, Singaporean and Malaysian navies, Commander Durkin said.
'It is this ship's first visit to mainland China,' he said. 'We are here to visit this fantastic city before taking part in a joint search-and-rescue exercise with the Chinese navy next week.
'I understand they [the PLA] are very professional and very good,' he said.
