Chinese fleet arrives in Hawaii for RIMPAC 2016

After a 15-day voyage, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy fleet, comprising of five ships, arrived at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Thursday, local time to attend the Rim of the Pacific naval exercises, also called RIMPAC 2016.

The Chinese fleet's ships are: the missile destroyer Xi'an; missile frigate Hengshui; supply ship Gaoyouhu; hospital ship Peace Ark; submarine rescue vessel Changdao. There also are three helicopters, a marine squad and a diving squad, including 1,200 officers and soldiers, on board, a contingent trailing only that of the US and Canada.

Under the arrangement of the host, the US Pacific Fleet, the Chinese missile destroyer Xi'an and missile frigate Hengshui were docked at Pier 7, while hospital ship Peace Ark, supply ship Gaoyouhu, submarine rescue ship Changdao anchored at Pier 8.

The national flags of China and the United States were hanging on the masts on both sides of the Chinese ships before they arrived at Pearl Harbor, in accordance with the international practice.

The Chinese navy fleet, called Taskforce 153, set sail from Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang province on June 15. They were joined on June 18 in the western Pacific with two US Navy ships in a group sail to Hawaii.

During the group sail, the Chinese fleet practiced firing its guns at sea, helicopter take offs and landings, dinghy dipping, boarding and inspection, rescue and other items. The Chinese and US sides, respectively, played the role of commanding officers in conducting formation and other tactical practices. Their crews also boarded each other's ships to conduct exchanges.

The group sail encompassed six time zones and about 5,000 nautical miles.

According to the plan, RIMPAC 2016 includes four periods, which include group sail, harbor training, operation on the sea and conclusion. The harbor training from July 1 to July 11 will include various coordination meetings, tabletop exercises, rescue practice, discussion and deck reception parties, ship open day and various cultural and sports events to help the participating navies to get to know each other better and improve their communication and cooperation among the navies.

Wei Jinfu, political commissar of Chinese Taskforce 153, said the exercises during the group sail have laid a good foundation for the following part of the games.

"Going forward, we will make good preparations for the next stage of harbor exercises, actively participate in multilateral activities and keep up our good spirits to demonstrate the open, confident, practical and cooperative image of the PLA Navy," he said.

The RIMPAC 2016 is a multilateral naval exercises led by the US and held once two years. This year is the 25th of exercises in the series, which began in 1971.

A total of 26 nations, 45 ships, five submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel will participate in RIMPAC 2016 in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California from June 30 to August 4.

It is the second time that the Chinese PLA Navy participated in RIMPAC after its debut in 2014.