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| Image: Flickr User - Simon YANG |
By Shannon Tiezzi
With historic visits to Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, the PLAN is breaking new ground.
A Chinese naval fleet is making the rounds of Nordic countries this week. A trio of People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels – a missile destroyer, a missile frigate, and a replenishment ship – has visited Denmark, Finland, and Sweden in the past two weeks on goodwill visits. For each of those countries, it was the first time PLAN vessels had paid a port call.
According to China’s Ministry of Defense, PLAN Fleet 152 is on a “round-the-globe voyage” after wrapping up a four-month anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden. Denmark, Finland, and Sweden were the third, fourth, and fifth stops (respectively) for the fleet, led by the guided-missile destroyer Jinan. The first two stops were Sudan and Egypt.
IHS Jane’s Navy International provided further details on the three vessels, identifying them as “the Type 052C Luyang II-class guided-missile destroyer Jinan (152), the Type 054A Jiangkai II-class guided-missile frigate Yiyang (548), and the Type 903 Fuchi-class replenishment ship Qiandao Hu (886).” Finland’s YLE News pointed out that the Jinanand Yiyang are among the PLAN’s most modern ships, having been completed in late 2014. The Qiandao, meanwhile, was commissioned a decade earlier, in 2004.
Read the full story at The Diplomat