The Chinese Navy has deployed one of its biggest Type 903A comprehensive supply ships, the Fuchi, to the East Vietnam Sea to strengthen its force in the area, China’s Global Times newspaper reported.
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The deployment was made in the context that the sea has become very tense as China has dispatched and maintained its Haiyang Shiyou 981 oil rig in Vietnamese waters since May 1 despite strong protests from Vietnam, which has repeatedly requested that China withdraw the rig from the area immediately.
The Fuchi has left Guangzhou in southern China’s Guangdong Province, where it was sent on May 31, and is on the way to the sea area, Global Times reported.
The 23,000-tonne Type 903A ship is capable of carrying 11,000 tons of cargo and can provide fuel and rations to Chinese warships operating in the open sea.
The Fuchi can fuel two warships simultaneously during the operation in the open sea. It can also carry two Z-8 helicopters, which can be used to airdrop supplies to other vessels, the newspaper said.
The Chinese Navy has also deployed Type 052D guided-missile destroyers to the East Vietnam Sea, according to Taiwan’s Want China Times newspaper.
Combined with the Fuchi, the presence of Type 052D guided-missile destroyers in the waters will make China’s South Sea Fleet a more dangerous threat to the Vietnamese and Philippine navies in the sea region, Want China Times said.
Beijing has also dispatched two other Type 903A supply ships to the Gulf of Aden, which is located in the Arabian Sea between Yemen, on the south coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and Somalia in the Horn of Africa, the newspaper reported.
In addition, China will build more Type 903A comprehensive supply ships to help expand the operation ranges of its naval force, Global Times said.
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Đăng ký: VietNam News