Malaysian naval official said the Chinese submarine and navy support ship made an ‘unprecedented stopover’ in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia on Tuesday and have stayed until Saturday, The Wall Street Journal reports.
They arrived in the site of a naval base facing the South China Sea – “a rare public display of China’s expanding undersea force and a further sign of power realignment in Southeast Asia,” the report said.
The visiting submarine was identified as the Chang Cheng and the support vessel as the Chang Xing Dao but declined to provide further details. The submarine’s name suggests it was a conventionally powered diesel-electric attack submarine.
Diplomacy Visit from The CNS Chang Cheng and CNS Chang Xing Dao of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N).#DefenceDiplomacy @1MinDef pic.twitter.com/Bxzx16n9Sh— Royal Malaysian Navy (@tldm_rasmi) January 5, 2017
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