Chinese Navy flexes muscles in South China Sea; expands activities in Indian Ocean as part of anti-piracy mission

The Chinese Navy conducted three separate exercises in the Bohai Sea-Yellow Sea, the Bohai Sea and the South China Sea. (File photo)

The ability to conduct different exercises is a sign of size and also, ambition. And the Chinese Navy is displaying just that, with three separate exercises in the Bohai Sea-Yellow Sea, the Bohai Sea and the South China Sea. Add to that, its forays into the Indian Ocean, with a destroyer and a frigate as part of the anti-piracy mission and also, a couple of spy ships, not to speak of a large number of fishing vessels.

The PLA(N), as the Chinese Navy is called, conducted a week-long exercise in the Bohai Sea-Yellow Sea area beginning August 15, a separate one in the Bohai Sea on September 18 and another one in the South China Sea on September 18-19. This can be seen as muscle-flexing keeping in mind countries like Japan, South Korea and The Philippines that are close to the United States and also, Vietnam.

Meanwhile, the PLA(N) is present in strength in the Indian Ocean with a destroyer, a frigate and a tanker. The Jiaozuo is a Luang-III type guided-missile destroyer, about a decade old, all of 7,500 tons, armed with the YJ-18 surface-to-surface missiles and HHQ-9 surface-to-air missiles. The Xu Chang, a 4,000 ton frigate, barely 6-year-old, is armed with C-802 missiles that can be used to target ships and also, targets on land. They are accompanied by a tanker, the Hong Hu.

A Chinese hospital ship sailed through the Indian Ocean and is now anchored in Pointe Noire, Congo, on the Atlantic coast. This is another sign of the Chinese reaching out to African countries.

There are two spy ships (the Chinese refer to them as Survey and Research Vessels) in the Indian Ocean, the Bei Diao 996 and the Hai Shi You 718. The former was off the coast of eastern Sri Lanka, near Hambantota, the port the Chinese built a few years ago. The other, after entering the Indian Ocean through the Malacca Strait on August 25, is near Sabang, Indonesia. Their job is to gather information about the conditions in the Indian Ocean Region.

The Chinese also send in a large number of fishing vessels into the Indian Ocean. About 75 of them are currently in the Indian Ocean now.