Necessity of normalizing PLA Navy’s ocean training

Necessity of normalizing PLA Navy’s ocean training

　　The news of the recent training by a ship formation of the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the Western Pacific Ocean has aroused wide concern of the foreign media, the Japanese media in particular. Although China has emphasized that the Chinese Navy was conducting a normal training without targeting any specific country, numerous foreign media still "sensitively" mentioned that this training was conducted at the time when Obama had announced that the U.S. returned to the Pacific, and in the background of the intensified Asia-Pacific maritime disputes. Some Japanese media even believed that the Chinese Navy was intentionally exerting pressure on Japan.

　　A mere routine training of the Chinese Navy has not only alerted Japan's Ministry of Defense, but also shocked the Japanese political arena. On the evening of November 23, 2011, Ichiro Genba, Japanese foreign minister, made a statement to the media in Beijing. He said that it wasn’t against the international law regarding Chinese warships' passing through the high seas between Okinawa Island and Miyako Island, "but attention must be placed on the next move of the Chinese Navy." Osamu Fujimura, Japanese chief cabinet secretary, also made a similar statement at a press conference on November 24, 2011.

　　As this being a conventional training without violation of international law, why are the Japanese always making such a fuss when Chinese warships sail eastward to the Western Pacific every time? It's astonishing that this has been involved in such discussions made by political figures of the Japanese government as well as by numerous big or small public media. To anyone without any background knowledge of the history between China and Japan, this scene might give him or her the impression that: China must have invaded Japan in the past, or infringed upon the interests of Japan. However, the historical fact is quite the contrary. Japan, which is exactly the country that has mounted a brutal and aggressive invasion to China, constantly shows its fear for China's military power. Japan's high-profile response to China's routine military training is most likely a deliberate strategy aiming at creating concerns of international community, especially that of the U.S. over China's naval power. By exaggerating the "threat" of the Chinese Navy, the United States' concern over China's military power will aggravate, and Japan will play a more important role in the U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy.

　　But Japan's exaggerated reaction may not necessarily get recognition from the U.S. The Chinese Navy's conventional training in the Western Pacific Ocean is quite normal, which the U.S. military also knows. As far as the construction of Chinese Navy’s modernization, similar training is just the initial step. Taking aircraft carrier for example, China's "Varyag" aircraft carrier has had only two trial voyages and it’s still inconclusive yet whether its construction has been completed or its equipment is functioning normally or not. Compared with the U.S., no matter how strong the Chinese Navy's combat ability really is, China does not even have the basic experience. Therefore, to say that the U.S. worries about Chinese Navy is only an overstatement.

　　In my opinion, the U.S. will not take this deliberate strategy of Japan seriously. Meanwhile, there's no need for China to care that. As a matter of fact, Chinese Navy sails eastward through high seas few times to the Western Pacific. It is "being rarely seen" that makes "strange". If Chinese Navy's training in the Western Pacific Ocean is normalized, Japanese politicians and media will naturally get more accustomed to it.

　　(This article represents only the author's point of view. It is unrelated to this website.)

　　By Li You/ the News of the World

Copyright statement:
All of the articles picked from Internet, if this article was wroten by you, and you do not want to publish it here, you can send mail to trory_cn#hotmail.com for removing, we will remove it ASAP.(change#to@)