Two People’s Liberation Army Navy surface action groups sailed between Japan’s Okinawa and Miyako Islands in and out of the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea over the past week, according to the Japanese Joint Staff Office.
PLAN destroyers CNS Huainan (123) and CNS Kaifeng (124), along with fleet oiler CNS Dongpinghu (902), were spotted sailing northwest 124 miles southeast of Miyako Island around 10 a.m. local time Friday, Japan’s Joint Staff Office said in a news release.
The three PLAN ships then sailed north in the waters between Okinawa and Miyako Island to enter the East China Sea. Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) minesweeper JS Shishijima (MSC-691) and a JMSDF P-3C Orion Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) shadowed the transit.
A second surface action group was observed traveling the opposite direction Monday. The JMSDF sighted destroyer CNS Tangshan (122), frigate CNS Daqing (576) and fleet oiler CNS Taihu (889) sailing southeast 80 miles northeast of Miyako Island. The PLAN ships sailed south in the waters between Okinawa and Miyako Island to enter the Philippine Sea. Minesweeper JS Kuroshima (MSC-692) and a JMSDF P-3C Orion MPA carried out surveillance on the PLAN ships.
The three ships form the PLAN’s 48th Chinese Naval Escort Task Force, which left China’s eastern Shandong province Qingdao on Saturday to relieve the 47th Chinese Naval Escort Task Force. The 47th task force has been deployed to the Gulf of Aden since January. The PLAN escort task forces, which include embarked special forces, have been continuously deployed to the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia since December 2008 to provide escort and intervention against piracy for Chinese merchant vessels transiting the area.
South Korea also has deployed its Cheonghae Unit, usually headed by destroyer with embarked special forces and medical personnel, to the region since 2009. Japan has also deployed destroyers and P-3C Orion MPAs on anti-piracy missions since 2009 with current deployment rotations consisting of a single destroyer and one P-3C.
Nearby in the South China Sea, two PLAN task groups, each including a PLAN amphibious ship, are conducting training around Southeast Asia.
The PLAN 83 fleet, consisting of training ship CNS Qi Jiguang (83) and amphibious transport dock CNS Yimengshan (988), docked Thursday in Sattahip Naval Base, Thailand. The PLAN ships are expected to be docked at the Thailand base until Monday, according to a Royal Thai Navy social media post.
The PLAN 83 fleet is carrying out a training deployment with embarked naval cadets. The group visited Hong Kong from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 and Cambodia from Oct. 11-14. Singapore is the next scheduled port call. China’s Ministry of National Defense and its military have only listed Hong Kong, Cambodia, Thailand and Singapore for planned port calls.
On Monday, an amphibious task group that included amphibious transport dock CNS Jingganshan (999), destroyer CNS Yinchuan (175) and corvette CNS Jingmen (667) arrived at the Port Klang Cruise Terminal, Malaysia, for the bilateral China-Malaysia Peace and Friendship 2025 exercise.
The Port Klang Cruise Terminal was once owned by Leonard “Fat Leonard” Francis and served as headquarters for his operations.
The amphibious task group is bringing personnel from all three services of the People’s Liberation Army and their equipment for the Peace and Friendship drills. Malaysia and China have been holding the Peace and Friendship exercise since 2014.
This year’s iteration will consist of amphibious and maritime security drills in the Straits of Malacca and the Royal Malaysian Navy’s National Hydrography Center, located next door to Port Klang Cruise Terminal. Humanitarian assistance and disaster relief drills will be carried out in the Malaysian state of Selangor. An air force exchange and seminar will be held at Royal Malaysian Air Force Subang Air Base.
The exercise began Wednesday and will conclude Oct. 23, a few days before the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in the nearby capital of Kuala Lumpur, of which U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to attend.
