Chinese Navy ship docks in Manila for four-day goodwill visit

More than 300 people, including the Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, defence attache to the Philippines Li Jianzhong, staff of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, representatives of Chinese companies, local Chinese associations and Chinese students, as well as representatives of the Philippine Navy, welcomed ship Qi Jiguang at the port.

The visit is its last stop of a regional ‘friendly’ tour, amid growing unease over Chinese maritime activities in the South China Sea.

During the visit to the Philippines, the ship commanders will pay a courtesy call to the commander of the Philippine Navy and officials of the Philippine Department of National Defense, and attend a welcome dinner hosted by the Philippine Navy.

The Chinese crew members will visit the Philippines' naval vessels and hold friendly cultural and sports activities with Philippine navy officers.

This is the first visit to the Philippines by ship Qi Jiguang. During its stay, the ship will open to the public. A deck reception will also be organized.

Named after Qi Jiguang, a national hero of the Ming Dynasty of China, the ship was commissioned in February 2017 as the largest and most modernized Chinese homegrown professional training ship.

The vessel is a giant training vessel larger than a typical destroyer. It departed from Brunei on Thursday (June 8) for the Philippines as part of a 40-day trip which included stops in Vietnam and Thailand before Brunei.

At the end of its trip, the ship and its crew of 476 navy students and officers will have passed through the Yellow Sea, East China Sea, South China Sea, the Gulf of Thailand and the West Pacific.

Its arrival in the Philippines comes amid tensions with its neighbours over the South China Sea, which China mostly claims but parts of which are also claimed by Vietnam, Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Reuters