Beijing: The military announced on Tuesday, shortly after one of China's two aircraft carriers returned from a patrol, that two Chinese warships had entered the Western Pacific for live-fire drills. This was part of China's latest show of force in more remote waters.
The People's Liberation Army's Southern Theatre Command released a statement stating that the destroyer Dalian and guided-missile frigate Huangshan recently sailed to an unspecified region of the West Pacific and engaged in attack and defence drills.
The command quoted a training officer as saying, "The joint training in unfamiliar and complex waters is of great significance in exploring the limits of new equipment effectiveness, testing the practical application of new warfare method."
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Soon after a carrier group led by the Shandong, one of China's two operational aircraft carriers, returned to its home port this month after sailing around Taiwan and into the Western Pacific, exercises in the more remote parts of the West Pacific were conducted.
China is modernising its military, and the US and its allies are concerned about its formidable missile forces and navy fleet, which now includes new ships like cutting-edge cruisers.
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In reference to the Shandong, Song Zhongping, a military analyst with Hong Kong's Phoenix TV, said to Reuters: "China's aircraft carrier is not a homebody and cannot just stay at home.
These long sea voyages will become more common in the future. China also has a sizable number of warships.
After a 30-day journey through the South China Sea and the Western Pacific, the Hainan, China's first domestically produced amphibious assault ship, along with a destroyer, a frigate, and a supply ship, finished their first distant sea training in March, according to the Southern Theatre Command.
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Defence analysts estimate that despite China's military buildup, it may still be more than ten years before China can mount a credible carrier threat outside of its borders.