Navy Patrol South China Sea Islands

The navy has been patrolling the Xisha and Nansha islands in the South China Sea on an ongoing training mission over the last week.

Warships and helicopters of the People's Liberation Army navy patrolled reefs off the Nansha Islands, which are comprised of more than 500 islets, shoals and reefs, and surrounding waters, from Thursday to Saturday.

Battleships from the PLA navy's South Sea Fleet, including the amphibian landing craft Changbaishan and the missile destroyers Haikou and Wuhan, set sail from ports in Guangdong and Hainan provinces on Monday.

The group conducted patrols off the Xisha Islands, including Yongxing, Dongdao, Chenhang and Zhongjian, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Marines, backed up by helicopters, on board the Changbaishan conducted landing drills and counter-landing defense measures with garrisons stationed on the islands.

The missile destroyers Haikou and Wuhan also conducted anti-submarine operations. The ships will continue to sail south and practice tactical maneuvers in the western Pacific and Indian Ocean.

The picture shows that the open-sea training formation is conducting the island-and-reef offensive-and-defensive drill on January 24, 2014. Recently, an open-sea training formation of the South China Sea Fleet of the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAN) finished a three-day-long patrol of the Nansha Islands and the surrounding waters, and then continued to patrol southward. (Xinhua/Gao Yi)

The picture shows that a helicopter of the open-sea training formation is conducting air patrol on January 25, 2014. Recently, an open-sea training formation of the South China Sea Fleet of the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAN) finished a three-day-long patrol of the Nansha Islands and the surrounding waters, and then continued to patrol southward. (Xinhua/Gao Yi)

The picture shows that a warship of the formation is conducting sea patrol on January 25, 2014. Recently, an open-sea training formation of the South China Sea Fleet of the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAN) finished a three-day-long patrol of the Nansha Islands and the surrounding waters, and then continued to patrol southward. (Xinhua/Gao Yi)