China-US tensions keep PLA sailors at sea for an extra four months in 2020

Name: Military drills in Taiwan Strait are ‘necessary’ as US envoy Keith Krach visits island, China says
Uploaded: 2020-12-25T14:00:17.000Z
Duration: 48 s
Description: Military drills in Taiwan Strait are ‘necessary’ as US envoy Keith Krach visits island, China says

Servicemen and women from South Sea Fleet, which monitors the South China Sea, had tours extended by up to 110 days, navy says

Increased activity by US forces in region, launch of new warships and helping fight Covid-19 all contributed to increased workload, insiders say

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Many of China’s sailors found themselves at sea for several months more than expected in 2020. Photo: PLA Daily

Minnie Chan

Published: 10:00pm, 25 Dec 2020Updated: 10:09pm, 26 Dec 2020

As tensions between China and the United States escalated in the Asia-Pacific region this year, some People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sailors were required to spend almost four months extra at sea, according to official social media reports.

The extension – which military insiders said was also due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic and launch of several new warships – affected servicemen and women with the Southern Theatre Command’s South Sea Fleet, which oversees security in the South China Sea, the PLA Navy said on WeChat.

Under normal circumstances, the sailors would have ended their tours in September, but as their colleagues prepared to leave, many found themselves engaging in so-called special tasks for a further 110 days, it said.

“After 110 days of hard work on the high seas … they have finally hung up their boots and returned home,” the navy said, without saying exactly when the sailors completed their tours or where they had been serving.

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Military drills in Taiwan Strait are ‘necessary’ as US envoy Keith Krach visits island, China says

Meanwhile, the PLA’s Eastern Theatre Command, which oversees the Taiwan Strait, said on WeChat that some of its soldiers had served an extra 91 days this year, engaging in additional training.