Chinese naval escort taskforce rescues ROK merchant ship

On the evening of February 10, local time, the Chinese naval escort taskforce on escort mission in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast dispatched a ship-borne helicopter and successfully rescued a merchant ship from the Republic of Korea (ROK) chased and attacked by quite a few pirate boats.

At 12:30 of February 10, local time (17:30, Beijing time), the seventh Chinese naval escort taskforce accomplished the 294th escort mission in which it successfully escorted 11 merchant ships to the termination point in the western waters of the Gulf of Aden.

At 17:18, the ROK merchant ship "CS DAISY" sent SOS to the Chinese naval escort taskforce, indicating that it was under the chase of quite a few boats.

In response the command post of the Chinese naval escort taskforce immediately ordered the “Xuzhou” warship about 40 nautical miles away from the scene of incident to speed to the "CS DAISY". At 17:46, the ship-borne helicopter of the "Xuzhou" warship carrying three special operation members took off and showed up in the sky above the "CS DAISY" 20 minutes later.

The helicopter hovered above the "CS DAISY", sending warnings to the pirate boats. More than 20 minutes later, the "CS DAISY" sailed out of the dangerous waters. The helicopter didn’t return to the "Xuzhou" warship until it ensured that there was no suspicious sign around and no danger lurking in the sea area for all merchant ships.

After the event the Chinese naval escort taskforce received a letter of gratitude from its ROK counterpart.

China Publicizes Submarine Missile Launch

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Daily on Friday carried a photo on its front page of the Changcheng 200 submarine test-firing a missile. 

The disclosure of the exercise follows the dramatic test flight earlier this month of a new stealth fighter jet that coincided with the visit of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.   

The news was also reported by the official Xinhua news agency, the web edition of the People's Daily, and the Science and Technology Daily the following day. They did not specify when and where the test took place. 

The Changcheng 200, commissioned in 1966, is a large G-class conventional submarine, 98 m long and 8.6 m wide. It is powered by diesel engines and electric motors. The sub first test-launched a missile in 1982, but this was the first time a firing exercise has ever been made public. 

"The Changcheng 200 smoothly accomplished scores of test-launch missions of ballistic missiles over the past 46 years. It received the title 'vanguard submarine of underwater test launches' from Hu Jintao, the chairman of the Central Military Commission, last August," the daily said.

The sub is under the command of the North Sea Fleet, which supervises the Balhae Sea (Bohai) and the West Sea. The missile is believed to be a Changjian-10 submarine-launched cruise missile also known as an "aircraft carrier killer." This spawned speculation that the drill was staged in preparation for the entry into the West Sea by U.S. aircraft carriers. 

Earlier on Jan. 26, official Chinese media revealed the test-launch of a nuclear missile by the Second Artillery Force, the Chinese Army's strategic nuclear missile unit. 

Diplomats in Beijing speculated that China aims to show off the modernization of its military at home and abroad and enhance military transparency as demanded by the U.S. and the West. 

A military expert in Beijing said the official Chinese media outlets on Jan. 26 gave massive coverage of the test-launch of a nuclear missile by the Second Artillery Force even though it failed. "It appears that the military is unveiling these weapons to emphasize their defense readiness," the expert speculated.