Chinese ships depart for rare drills with US Navy
Navy says the exercises are important for military diplomacy
Three Chinese naval ships are sailing east to join rare search-and-rescue drills with the United States as Beijing ramps up its military diplomacy.
The ships left the port of Qingdao on Tuesday for waters off Hawaii, where they will exchange coordinating officers and observers during the exercises, the Defense Ministry said on Wednesday on its website.
Later in the cruise, the ships will also travel to Australia and New Zealand for similar exercises and exchanges.
Deputy navy commander Xu Hongmeng was quoted by newspapers as calling the exercises an “important mission of military diplomacy” that helps consolidate a commitment to build stronger ties made by President Barack Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a June summit in California.
The ships’ departure came during a visit to the US by Chinese Defence Minister Chang Wanquan, during which he and US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke hopefully of building greater trust through expanded military cooperation.
During Chang’s visit, Hagel pledged to visit China next year. China’s navy will participate for the first time in a major international maritime exercise known as Rim of the Pacific and the sides plan to boost anti-piracy cooperation off the coast of Somalia.