On December 26, 2008, when three ships of our People's Navy set off from a military port in Hainan to escort ships in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, in fact, we had done a lot of work before, because we had never carried out such a mission in such a distant sea area, because it was a waterway for humanitarian and military cooperation and maintenance.
I vaguely remember that when the German Naval Inspectorate came to visit China, we went to the Kempinski Hotel in Beijing, where he was staying, to ask him about the situation, because we had to consult.
For example, a destroyer and a frigate, so how is the ** between them connected to NATO?With what kind of signal, in what way?Should it be repaired if it is broken?There are still many questions we are studying, consulting, only after these preliminary preparations, you can say to the Military Commission that I am ready, we can carry out such a task.
After we are ready, there are some things that you may not have thought of at all, or that you have not experienced, including the German **, or the United States**, he may not have experienced it either, so we are learning and practicing at the same time. When our ** is sent out, at least you are announcing to the international ** and the world that the People's Navy is going to participate in such an operation.
Our task is to ensure the safety of Chinese merchant ships in those waters, and that is the first point.
And secondly, the United Nations WFP, and other organizations that are going to send food and humanitarian supplies to the countries around that region, and we have to protect the safety of their ships.
Secondly, we also try to protect the merchant ships of other countries or regions that pass through that area. On the basis of such laws, with the consent of the countries concerned, then our task is to send an escort formation of such a size.
Finally, when our escort formation was about to set off, the head of the Central Military Commission and the head of the navy all went to the wharf to see off these officers and men of our escort, and it was clearly emphasized that it was a major decision made by the Central Military Commission that we sent such an escort formation.
It was also the first time that we had sent a military force overseas to safeguard the country's strategic interests and protect the security of sea lanes. It was the first time that our ships had gone to such a distant area to carry out such a mission, so it was a very difficult task, but it was also very glorious.
It was not until the end that our formation of three ships set off and carried out such a mission when we were well prepared, but your mission has already declared to the international community that the Chinese People's Navy has begun to go to the far seas and has begun to assume this obligation of a great power.
Project Sword