Four days goodwill cum training visit of China’s PLA (Navy) Task Group to Pakistan has concluded in Karachi on 13th June.
Three Chinese Navy war ships --CHANG CHUN, JING ZHOU and CHAO HU – took part under the command of mission commander Rear Admiral Shen Hao, Deputy Commander East Sea Fleet.
At the end of the visit, a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) was conducted in the North Arabian Sea between Pakistan Navy Flotilla and PLA (N) task group to enhance interoperability between two navies.
What is PASSEX?
A passing exercise (a PASSEX in U.S. Navy terminology) is an exercise done between two navies to ensure that the navies are able to communicate and cooperate in times of war or humanitarian relief.
Common drills include flashing light drills, semaphore drills, and flaghoist drills. In modern times, navies within a very close alliance may include electronic and digital cooperation including using electronic communications and target acquisition. Some exercises between the French and US navies (particularly in support of the war in Afghanistan) have included carrier-based fighter-bombers "touching down" (landing then taking off) on each other's carriers in order to ensure interoperability.
While the official reason of a PASSEX is to practice cooperation, various unofficial reasons might be to "show the flag" (show the power of a nation through a public display of naval power) or other political or diplomatic reasons.
What the East sea fleet of Chinese navy?
The East Sea Fleet was the first naval force formed by the People's Republic of China, on 23 April 1949 and was initially based at Shanghai. Renamed in 1955, it has since been assigned to be part of the People's Liberation Army Navy and its headquarters have been moved to Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, but the fleet continues to patrol the East China Sea. Its flagship is Chongmingdao.
The fleet was used in a support role during the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) invasion of the previously Kuomintang-held island of Yijiangshan on 14 January 1955. It has engaged in numerous other battles against the Taiwanese military. It has also operated in support of the South Sea Fleet against the People's Army of Vietnam, particularly in the 1980s.
The fleet would have a key role in any invasion of Taiwan, and one of its principal missions is to effectively support a PLA amphibious operation against that island. The fleet has been augmented by two Sovremenny-class missile destroyers, with a further 2 delivered by the end of 2006. Four Kilo class attack submarines have also joined the fleet.