Times 2

China stages military drills amid sea disputes

BEIJING, June 18 (AFP) - China staged three days of military exercises in the South China Sea and plans to boost its offshore maritime patrol force, state media said , as tensions with its neighbours simmer.
China has competing claims with Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei over potentially resource-rich areas in the South China Sea which have flared in recent weeks.

Beijing has pledged it will not resort to force to resolve the lingering maritime territorial disputes, after the Philippines this week sought help from the United States and Vietnam staged live-fire military exercises.
According to the Global Times, 14 Chinese navy vessels recently staged drills in waters near China's southern tropical island of Hainan, including anti-submarine manoeuvres and the beach landing of troops.

The exercises in the South China Sea were aimed at “defending atolls and protecting sea lanes,” reports said. The China Maritime Surveillance force meanwhile will be bolstered from the current staff of 9,000 to 15,000 personnel by 2020, the China Daily reported.

The force falls under the State Oceanic Administration, an agency that supervises China's coastline and territorial waters. The patrol fleet will have 350 vessels by 2015 and 520 by 2020, the report said, citing an unnamed senior China Maritime Surveillance official. It will also have 16 planes by 2015.

Disputes at sea between China and other countries have been on the rise, a State Oceanic Administration report said last month. China said Thursday it had dispatched a maritime patrol vessel to disputed South China Sea waters but insisted it was committed to peace in the region.

Taiwan's navy said this week it would proceed with scheduled patrol missions in the disputed waters, sending a naval fleet to Taiwan-controlled Taiping, the biggest island in the Spratlys, one of the disputed island chains.

Top to the page  |  E-mail  |  views[1]
SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend
 
Other Times 2 Articles
US is talking to Taliban: Karzai
UN nod for gay rights
Playing with fire: IMF warns of Euro-US economic crises
S. Korean troops shoot at civilian airliner by mistake
Defiant Gaddafi vows to defeat NATO
Morocco’s king unveils sweeping reforms
China stages military drills amid sea disputes
Mini Ice Age: Earth faces global cooling
Remote control killing like sport
Iran plans to send monkey into space
The perfect cuppa
King of the carbs! Pasta is named the world's favourite food
Wow, it’s liz love
Smash it
Russia’s politics of photowars
I can see for miles and miles and miles
Personal flight closer to reality with test of jetpack
Australia's boom lures new wave of European immigrants
Malaysia 'to press on with Australia refugee swap'
Ayman al-Zawahiri: From doctor to Osama bin Laden's successor
Pakistan's female madrassas breed radicalism
China-Russia strategic alliance: The answer
Are Saudi women next?
UN council recommends 2nd term for Ban Ki-moon

 

 
Reproduction of articles permitted when used without any alterations to contents and a link to the source page.
© Copyright 1996 - 2011 | Wijeya Newspapers Ltd.Colombo. Sri Lanka. All Rights Reserved | Site best viewed in IE ver 8.0 @ 1024 x 768 resolution