Source: Global Times
This year marks the 95th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, and the People's Liberation Army has come from the smoke of war, fought against various powerful opponents, and won one victory after another. In his speech at the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue, State Councilor and Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe pointed out that the Chinese people who have experienced countless hardships love peace and cherish peace more than anyone. "China has sent 41 batches of more than 120 sub-ships to escort more than 7,000 Chinese and foreign ships. The development of China's armed forces has always been the growth of the world's peace forces." The Global Times reporter interviewed several batches of escort officers and soldiers, listening to how the People's Navy proved with actions how the Chinese army is the builder, defender and contributor of the community of human destiny and the community of maritime destiny.
Where the national interest is concerned, the ship's track will be reached
At the beginning of July, the 41st escort formation, which was carrying out escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and Somalia, successfully escorted a number of Chinese and foreign merchant ships, and one of the Chinese crew members of the escort merchant ship hung a banner "Thank you for the escort of the Chinese Navy" to pay tribute to the escort officers and men.
Banners with the words "Long live the motherland", "Thank you to the Chinese Navy for escorting" and "Proud of the Chinese Navy" have been appearing in this area since January 2009. In 2008, piracy in Somalia waters escalated, seriously threatening the safety of navigation in the region. In accordance with the arrangements of the relevant resolutions of the Un Security Council and the request of the Transitional Government of Somalia, China dispatched the first batch of escort formations to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters to carry out escort missions on December 26 of that year, opening a new journey of the People's Navy's normal deployment to the far seas.
Zhang Shengjie, the captain of the Changsha ship, recalled that on april 23, 2021, on the day of the Navy Day, the Changsha and Honghu ships escorted five Chinese ships to the target sea. "As we were about to meet the escorted convoy, one of the merchant ships in the convoy hung banners saying 'Thank you to the motherland's navy for escorting me' and 'Proud of the Chinese Navy'. At that time, I was extremely proud to be able to escort the fleet of the motherland in the Gulf of Aden, thousands of miles away, and truly felt the profound meaning of the words of effectively defending the security interests of the motherland and the people. ”
Zhang Shengjie said that the Chinese Navy escort formation responds to the escort needs of Chinese and foreign ships, does its best to ensure the safety of the escorted ships, and provides medical rescue and equipment repair support within its capabilities, effectively protecting the safety of international waterways.
The Binzhou warship participated in the 29th batch of escort missions, and there is always a picture lingering in the memory of captain Shao Jianpeng, "When the two groups of escort formations are handed over, joint escorts are generally carried out." When jointly escorting, seeing a number of modern ships of the Chinese Navy sailing in large formations in waters thousands of miles away from the motherland, protecting the safety of domestic and foreign merchant ships, a sentence will clearly jump out of the mind: Ships as a mobile land, this is the symbol of our safeguarding overseas interests. Where the national interest is concerned, the ship's track will be reached. ”
Fourteen years of escort witness to the transformation and development of the people's navy
The escort mission in 2021 was the second time that Zhang Shengjie was ordered to the Gulf of Aden and somali waters. At that time, his heart was full of emotions: this vast sea area can be described as a witness to the growth of the Chinese navy, witnessing the extraordinary achievements of the people's navy construction in the past ten years.
"In 2008, I participated in the first convoy operations as a detachment leader just two years after graduation. At that time, don't talk about the detachment, it is the ships that the whole fleet can really get their hands on, and the two hands can basically count. Zhang Shengjie recalled that not only that, from Yalong Bay to Aden Bay, strange waterways, complex sea conditions, how to successfully complete the task... All the officers and men of the escort felt bottomless in their hearts.
Thirteen years later, Zhang Shengjie led the ship to sail in this sea again as a captain, full of confidence in his heart. "When the first escorts were made, we had only a handful of new warships. Nowadays, the new 052D and 055 type guided missile destroyers have been successively put into service, and domestic aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships have also successively joined the sequence of the people's navy, and the development of new qualitative combat forces has accelerated. The sea and air forces involved in the escort have also changed greatly. Zhang Shengjie said, "The Navy's equipment level has also been tested in actual combat." With the continuous development of technology, the stability and reliability of ship equipment have been greatly improved. ”
Along with the upgrading of equipment, the Ability of the Chinese Navy to carry out diversified military tasks has been greatly improved. Zhang Shengjie said that before the departure of each batch of escort formations and during the sailing stage, targeted intensive training should be carried out. During the mission, it also continued to organize anti-terrorism and anti-piracy training in a number of courses related to the implementation of the mission, and constantly explored and summarized the results of the actual combat training in unfamiliar and complex seas during the training, effectively improving the ability to carry out the mission and mission. In addition, the escort formation closely followed the actual situation of escort, carried out targeted exercises, basic training in tactics and techniques, and training in combat applications, and comprehensively improved its ability to deal with various security threats in the far seas. ”
At the same time, the Chinese Navy's far-sea support capabilities have also been continuously improved. On August 1, 2017, the ceremony of the Chinese People's Liberation Army support base in Djibouti was held, marking the opening of China's first overseas support base. He Lei, former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, once said, "By establishing a support base in Djibouti, China's escort formations have been better replenished and rested here, and they can better perform the tasks entrusted by the United Nations." This is also conducive to djibouti's economic development and can also promote the development of Djibouti's neighboring countries. ”
The "circle of friends" of the people's navy is getting bigger and bigger
As an international service, the Chinese Navy has always been active on the stage of the world navy, and Chinese warships galloping in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters have become the "window" for the international community to understand China. In the past 14 years, the Chinese Navy's escort formation has successively established an information sharing mechanism and a commander-in-chief meeting system with multinational ships or formations, and carried out joint escort and joint exercises, including non-traditional security fields such as joint search and rescue, anti-piracy, counter-terrorism, sea lane security and defense, and humanitarian rescue, as well as traditional security fields such as anti-submarine, air defense, anti-ship and landing operations.
Captain Zhao Lei of Changchun remembered that in the 19th batch of escort missions, there were three exchanges with foreign troops in mid-to-early July alone. In a joint anti-piracy exercise with foreign troops, the Changchun ship achieved excellent results in the first shot of the main gun, which won the unanimous praise of the other side. The foreign military personnel who served as liaison officers on the Changchun warship said with admiration: "Your main gun shooting is very good, and I have left a deep impression." After the exercise, the other side also sent an e-mail to the formation commander, which read, "The Changchun and Chaohu ships of the Chinese Navy have demonstrated enough to be proud of their navigation skills and high-level professional combat capabilities." He also quoted a German proverb: "The world is actually a small town" and said, "Maybe we will meet again somewhere in this 'small town', and I will be very happy." ”
After the Chinese Navy escort formation completes its escort mission in the Gulf of Aden, it usually conducts two-month foreign visits, during which it will conduct joint exercises with foreign forces and make friendly visits to many countries, thus displaying the image of the people's navy as a civilized division and a peaceful division.
Shao Jianpeng, captain of the Binzhou ship who participated in the 29th batch of escort missions, recalled that after the 29th batch of escort missions in 2018, the Binzhou ship participated in many activities such as the international maritime comprehensive skills competition and the young officer exchange meeting during the visit, and organized a ship open day and deck reception. He said, "With the increasing number of escort batches, more and more officers and men have the experience of performing overseas missions and visiting other countries, their horizons are broader, their ability and quality have also been greatly improved, and their self-confidence has been enhanced from the inside out." These invisible 'soft powers' lay the foundation for future responses to complex and diverse military missions. ”
As a permanent port for multinational escort ships to rest and replenish, There is a "naval wall" on the Djibouti pier, and Chinese and foreign escort ships will draw wall paintings with their own and their own characteristics when they dock as a memorial. On this wall, chinese ships and national treasures of giant pandas appear, which are in harmony with commemorative paintings of other navies. Shao Jianpeng said, "This wall is like a symbol, symbolizing the pace of internationalization of the people's navy, and the pace is sonorously striding towards building a world-class navy." ”
The exchanges between the escort formation and the navies of other countries have made the circle of friends of the Chinese navy bigger and bigger, and also made the international community more aware of the determination and desire of the Chinese navy to develop peacefully and maintain peace. Zhao Lei said: In their exchanges with foreign militaries, they have generally fully affirmed the important role played by the Chinese Navy in safeguarding maritime security and the good relations of openness, mutual trust, and cooperation maintained by China's escort forces.
Foreign merchant ships took the initiative to seek refuge from the Chinese Navy
As of June, China has dispatched 41 convoys to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, completed 1,500 convoys of more than 7,000 Chinese and foreign ships, and made important contributions to ensuring the safety of important international trade routes and maintaining world peace and stability.
In March 2014, the Changchun 052C guided-missile destroyer, which had been on the list for just over a year, set sail to the Indian Ocean to search for the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger plane, and then went to the Gulf of Aden and Somalia to carry out the 17th escort mission.
Zhao Lei, captain of the Changchun warship, said that the escort mission totaled more than 200 days, completed 43 batches of 115 Chinese and foreign ships escort tasks, and implemented special escorts for 17 sub-ships. "During the escort period, we escorted a WFP vessel and participated in operations such as the rescue of a merchant ship that caught fire in Italy."
Although over the years, Zhao Lei still clearly remembers the scene of rescuing the Italian merchant ship that caught fire: "It happened in the early morning, the cabin of the Italian merchant ship 'Alatina' that was escorted by the formation caught fire, and the entire crew abandoned the ship and took a lifeboat to escape. The formation command post immediately activated the emergency plan and ordered the Chaohu ship to send two small boats to respond. The 16 crew members of the merchant ship, guided by the dinghy, were safely transferred to the Chaohu ship for proper placement, and in the morning they were safely transferred to another Italian merchant ship that came to pick up, and completed the handover with the Italian destroyer "Mingberry" that night. ”
With its efficient escort methods, responsible attitude and excellent quality, the Chinese Navy has gradually become a trustworthy peace force in the nearby waters and local areas, and more and more foreign merchant ships have taken the initiative to seek the protection of the Chinese Navy. On 8 April 2017, the 25th convoy received a notification from the British Maritime Trade Organisation that the Tuvalu-based OS35 cargo ship had been hijacked by pirates in the northwestern waters of Sokotra in the Gulf of Aden, and the number of pirates was unknown. The special operators boarded os-35 in a small boat under the air cover of our carrier-based aircraft and launched a rescue operation, freeing 19 crew members from the safety compartment.
Shao Jianpeng, captain of the Binzhou warship, believes that in the process of escort, the Escort Formation of the Chinese Navy is flexible and efficient, and adopts methods such as escort and regional escort, emergency escort and extended escort, which fully ensures the safe navigation of passing merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden.
For 14 consecutive years, the Chinese Navy has carried out escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, not only safeguarding the country's overseas interests, but also contributing to safeguarding world and regional peace and stability and promoting international exchanges. Shao Jianpeng said, "With the development of the economy, China's interests overseas are also increasing, and it is necessary for the people's army to go out and safeguard the overseas interests of the country and the people." At the same time, the Chinese navy continues to grow and become more influential, and we have played an increasingly important role in the process of practicing the concept of a community with a shared future for the sea. In the process of escorting, we actively communicate with foreign ships, through the development of military cooperation, extensive international military and international security cooperation, and practice the concept of a community with a shared future for the sea with our own actions. ”
Tangible results: Somali piracy is on the decline
Under the strong deterrent action of the People's Liberation Army Navy, including the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy and other international forces, the pirate attacks in the somali waters have shown a downward trend in recent years, making the Gulf of Aden, the world's "most dangerous sea area", a "golden waterway". At present, the track of the Chinese Navy escort formation is still extending, effectively defending the safety of the Gulf of Aden and the surrounding waters.
With the normalization of the Chinese Navy's escort in the Gulf of Aden and somali waters, the attention of the outside world, including the public, is declining, and this cooling is based on the "zero breakthrough" of the People's Navy in the implementation of escort tasks, including "the first time to rush thousands of miles to receive ships attacked by pirates", "the first time to rescue ships attacked by pirates by force", "the first time to escort ships evacuated from Chinese people trapped overseas", "the first time to evacuate Chinese and foreign citizens in Yemen".
Zhang Shengjie did not feel lost in the attention received by the Chinese Navy's ships after they achieved normal escort. He believes that in fact, this is a kind of progress, "which just shows that the people's navy's escort operation has achieved tangible results." On the one hand, through the joint efforts of escort formations of various countries, including the Chinese Navy, pirates in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters have been hit hard, piracy activities have decreased year by year, and the safety of this important international waterway in the Gulf of Aden has been effectively guaranteed. On the other hand, the normalization of escort operations is the most direct embodiment of China's active fulfillment of international obligations and the effectiveness of a responsible major country in providing security services to the international community. At the same time, it has also truly achieved the important goal of maintaining the security of the national strategic channel."
Zhang Shengjie said that the increasingly powerful Chinese navy is not only defending the motherland's sea and air tranquility, but also making important contributions to world peace.