PLA Navy's 70th birthday shows how far it has come: China Daily editorial

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy turned 70 on Tuesday. It is a time for reflecting on its beginning and how over the past seven decades it has overcome numerous difficulties to grow into a modern naval force. It is also a time when the country's resolve to build the PLA Navy into a world-class force can be consolidated.

As a major Pacific country that has more than 18,000 kilometers of coastlines, China needs a capable naval force that can timely and effectively respond to challenges and risks, especially now it is opening its door wider to the outside world. 

The PLA Navy is increasingly being looked upon as an indispensable force to defend the country's interests and protect its nationals' personal safety and property overseas.

Hence, the calls for China to build a blue-sea navy have become stronger, and the PLA Navy has apparently accelerated its modernization steps in a bid to enhance its combat capabilities and combat readiness. Not to mention that the navy also feels obliged to more effectively respond to challenges to the country's maritime interests and territorial integrity.

Apart from the South China Sea and East China Sea disputes in recent years, in which China has seen its maritime interests being encroached upon by neighboring countries, pro-independence forces in Taiwan also pose a threat to the country's territorial integrity. 

Against such a backdrop, the PLA Navy has to play a more active role in maintaining a high degree of alertness to these, especially as some countries from outside the region have more than once usurped the regional disputes as a way to fish for their own interests, and even staged frequent strategic maneuvers in an attempt to contain China's development momentum.

However, as part of China's defense forces, the PLA Navy is ultimately a force for peaceful purposes. The anti-piracy vessels dispatched by the Chinese navy have escorted more than 6,600 vessels in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia since their first escort mission in December 2008.

The PLA Navy has also actively participated in international humanitarian missions and conducted various exchanges with naval forces from other countries in a bid to build mutual understanding and deepen strategic mutual trust.

The multinational naval activities to mark the PLA Navy's 70th anniversary are also an occasion for further exchanges with the attending navies.

So we have reason to believe that the PLA Navy will be developed into a world-class force that apart from fulfilling its national security missions can better contribute to world peace and development.