According to CCTV media reports, Admiral Steve Koehler, commander of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, led a team to attend the 19th Western Pacific Naval Forum held in China.
After a few years, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet led a delegation to China
The 19th Annual Meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Forum was held in Qingdao, Shandong Province from April 21 to 24, and delegations from 29 countries, including Australia, France, India, Japan, South Korea, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom, attended the forum.
The 19th Annual Meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Forum was held in Qingdao, Shandong Province from April 21 to 24
The seminar set up three topics: "Global Security Initiative and Maritime Peace and Tranquility", "Maritime Security Cooperation and Maritime Order Based on International Law", and "Extensive Consultation, Joint Contribution and Shared Benefits and Global Ocean Governance", with the aim of "spreading China's ideas and giving voice to China".
Commander of the Pacific Fleet of the US Navy Steve Koehler
It is worth noting that against the eve of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to China, the size of the US military delegation to participate in this year's meeting can be said to be not low, and the participation was led by Admiral Steve Koehler, commander of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, which shows the importance that the US side attaches to this forum.
According to the official statement of the People's Liberation Army, in addition to the seminar, the forum also arranged for delegations from other countries to visit naval ships and academies to learn about the development process and construction achievements of the Chinese Navy, and to appreciate Chinese traditional culture and Qingdao's local characteristics.
The US military delegation lamented that it was made in China
The Pacific Fleet is a very important position in the U.S. Navy
The US media said that the US admiral led a delegation to China to witness China's powerful navy, especially since the forum coincided with the 75 th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy and was in Qingdao.
The US military delegation was amazed at the sight of the Red Flag car
There was also a small episode when the delegation of the US Navy discovered that the car that picked them up was a Chinese-made "Hongqi" sedan, and they could not help but exclaim in English: "Hongqi"!
This visit by the US admiral will show the PLA the true strength of the Chinese Navy at present, including the follow-up organization of delegations from other countries to visit the navy ships, which may be for this purpose.
The strength of the Pacific Fleet should not be underestimated
You must know that this US Navy Admiral is the commander of the Pacific Fleet, and the US Pacific Fleet is China's biggest "adversary" in the island chain and a "destabilizing factor" in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Pacific Fleet can be said to be the most powerful combat force of the US Navy at present, and it has the Third and Seventh Fleets under its jurisdiction. The Seventh Fleet has been deployed in Japan for a long time, and as a front-line force to contain Chinese mainland, the Seventh Fleet mainly has a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and a lightning aircraft carrier under its jurisdiction, and the aircraft carriers of this fleet maintain a military presence near the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait at every turn, giving Chinese mainland "nothing to do."
The Third Fleet is the most powerful fleet of the US Navy, with five nuclear-powered aircraft carrier strike groups alone, in addition to an expeditionary strike group. In other words, the entire Pacific Fleet has more than half of all active super-nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and its strength cannot be underestimated.
Compared with the last visit to China by the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, this time it should have been eight or nine years apart, and the gap between the navies of China and the United States has long been "different from what it used to be."
The gap between the Chinese and US navies has further narrowed
Entering 2024, the gap between the Chinese Navy and the U.S. Navy has further narrowed, according to the previous report of the U.S. media "Military News", the People's Liberation Army has ushered in the largest shipbuilding wave in the past 10 years, 2010-2024, the total tonnage of the PLA Navy ships has completed the growth from 1 million tons to 2.3 million tons, and the Chinese Navy and the U.S. Navy are currently the only two combat forces in the world with a total tonnage of more than 2 million tons.
All 8 ships of the 055 drive have been put into service
In the first 10 years, the US Navy entered service with 13 shield ships with a tonnage of 140,000 tons and an average annual service of 1.3 ships.
Now the U.S. military has begun to build Burke 3 again
During the same period, the Chinese Navy entered service 37 shield ships, with a tonnage of 308,000 tons, and an average annual number of 3.7 ships, the total number of which is nearly three times that of the US military, and the tonnage is twice that of the US military.
The situation of aircraft carriers is similar, the number of aircraft carriers built by China in the first 10 years exceeded 150,000 tons, and the Fujian ship is expected to be able to enter service this year, when the number of PLA aircraft carriers in service is twice that of the US military, and the new tonnage is 150% of that of US aircraft carriers. According to foreign media reports, China may currently be building two supercarriers at the same time, and the aircraft carrier construction plan is much ahead of the US military.
Due to the rapid decline of the American shipbuilding industry, only one of the docks at the Newport News Shipyard in the United States is now capable of building aircraft carriers.
In the first 10 years, the Chinese Navy entered service 25 054A frigates and 50 056A corvettes, with a total tonnage of 172,000 tons. During the same period, the U.S. Navy built 27 littoral combat ships in service, with a tonnage of 88,000 tons, one-third of China's number and half of China's tonnage.
The LCS is in an awkward position within the US military
Of course, the main thing is that the US military felt that there was no need for the "frigate" type of ship at that time, so it did not build it, but now the US military has reversed itself and started to build the "Constellation" class.
Generally speaking, except in the field of submarines, the gap between the Chinese and US navies is rapidly narrowing, and in the past, the Seventh Fleet's permanent naval forces in the Asia-Pacific region alone surpassed the three major fleets of the People's Liberation Army in terms of strength.
The PLA Navy has developed into a strategic service with a complete set of five major arms and both nuclear and conventional weapons, and is speeding up its march toward building a world-class navy in an all-round way with a new attitude.
Through this exchange, Admiral Steve Koehler, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, witnessed first-hand the rapid development and strong strength of the Chinese Navy. The US military obviously felt the breath of a new maritime superpower on its trip, and the rise of this power will have a far-reaching impact on the pattern of global naval forces in the future.
Sources for some of the content in the article: 1. Exclusive scene: Representatives of the US military marveled at China's red flag car in Qingdao North Evening Online