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The destroyer Dalian and guided-missile frigate Huangshan sailed
to an unidentified area of the West Pacific "not long ago" and
conducted attack and defence drills, the Southern Theatre
Command of the People's Liberation Army said in a statement.
"The joint training in unfamiliar and complex waters is of great
significance in exploring the boundaries of new equipment
effectiveness, testing the practical application of new warfare
method," the command said, citing a training officer.
The exercises in more distant seas in the West Pacific came 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.
China is modernizing its military and its formidable missile
forces and navy fleet, with new vessels such as cutting-edge
cruisers, are posing a concern for the U.S. and its allies.
"China's aircraft carrier is not a homebody and cannot just stay
at home," Song Zhongping, a military commentator with Hong
Kong's Phoenix TV, told Reuters, referring to the Shandong.
"There will be more and more of these distant sea travels in
future. Also China has quite a lot of warships."
In March, China's first domestically produced amphibious assault
ship, the Hainan, along with a destroyer, a frigate, and a
supply ship completed their first distant sea training after a
30-day trip into the South China Sea and the Western Pacific,
the Southern Theatre Command said.
Despite China's military expansion, it could be more than a
decade before it can mount a credible carrier threat far from
its shores, defence analysts say.
(Reporting by Albee Zhang and Ryan Woo; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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