Chinese navy ships to participate in Sino-Vietnamese joint patrol in Beibu Gulf

Chinese navy ships to participate in Sino-Vietnamese joint patrol in Beibu Gulf

(Source: PLA Daily) 2009-12-02

At 16:00 on December 1, headed by Senior Captain Zhang Leyi, deputy commander of the Support Base of the South China Sea Fleet (SCSF) of the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Chinese Navy’s guided missile gunboats “Chenghai” and “Chaoyang” departed from a military port in Sanya, a port city in south China’s Hainan Province, and sailed to the Beibu Gulf to participate in the 8th joint patrol by navies of China and Vietnam. The two Chinese gunboats are also scheduled to visit Haiphong of Vietnam.

This outgoing visit to Haiphong of Vietnam is Chinese Navy’s return visit upon invitation after the No.863 and the No. 864 Vietnamese minesweepers paid a port call to Zhanjiang in south China’s Guangdong Province last June. It is the first time for the Chinese navy ships to visit Vietnam since the Sino-Vietnamese joint naval patrol in the Beibu Gulf started in 2006. During the visit, the officers and men on the two Chinese gunboats will carry out friendly exchanges with the Vietnamese naval troops in such activities as exchange of visits, sightseeing, musical performance and sports matches.

To maintain the order and stability in the Beibu Gulf and the common fishing zone and strengthen the friendly cooperative relations of the armed forces of the two countries, China and Vietnam signed on Oct. 26, 2005 an agreement on joint patrol in the Beibu Gulf. The agreement stipulates that the joint patrol shall be held in May and December every year in the “S”-shaped sea area one nautical mile off the standard patrol line.

The maiden Sino-Vietnamese joint patrol in the Beibu Gulf in the South China Sea was held on April 27, 2006 and so far the navies of the two countries have conducted 7 joint patrols with a total voyage exceeding 2,900 nautical miles.

By Zhu Guangyao and Yuan Yongdong

Editor:Ouyang Dongmei