PLA Daily 2006-08-28

　　The Shanghai Base of the Chinese PLA Navy is one of the units opening up to the outside world upon the approval of the Central Military Commission. So far it has successfully received over 60,000 foreign guests in 912 military delegations and 87 port calls by 116 foreign naval vessels from some 120 countries.

　　Sailors at the base always said that they represented the image of the PLA Navy. On August 27, 2002, the Training Ship " Cuauhtemoc" of the Mexican Navy visited Shanghai, the military band of the base rushed to the dock at noontime in full ceremonial dress in spite of torrid heat. However, the vessel could not sail into the dock on schedule because the tide was ebbing at the mouth of the Yangtze River. Members of the military band stood upright as the hot sun beat down on them, sweating profusely. One hour later, the vessel finally moored at the dock, but a rainstorm started pouring violently down. The members of the band seemed to give no thought at all to the heavy rain and began to play the majestic martial music in spite of rain. The captain of the ship hurried down the gangway amid rain to salute the military band and said: "From the sailors standing upright in the heavy rain, I can visualize two Chinese Great Walls, one is China's splendid Great Wall, another one is the maritime great wall defending China's territorial sea. The spirit and demeanor of the Chinese sailors have been indelibly printed on my memory."

　　However, friendship and enthusiasm alone are far from enough. During the year when the 30th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relation between China and Thailand was celebrated, a Thai naval task force, made up of two frigates and one landing ship, visited Shanghai. During the visit the landing ship had serious breakdowns. The commander of the task force anxiously requested the base to render help. The landing ship differed greatly from the Chinese naval ships as far as its structure and equipment were concerned, thus in order to repair the landing ship, the emergency support capability of the Chinese Navy had been truly put to the test. Shen Changkang, deputy commander of the base led more than 30 officers and men to make a rushed repair of the ship that very night and successfully completed the task in over 20 hours.

　　Eventually, the loud and long siren wailed and the Thai naval ships set sail on schedule. The Thai military attaché said with admiration: "The Chinese Navy is really world-class as far as their knowledge on naval ship equipment and their support capability are concerned!

　　In order to win the trust and support of foreign friends to China's national defense policy, we should face the world by opening up wider and with greater breadth of vision. On November 17, 2004, Admiral Sir Alan West, the Britain first sea lord, and his wife, visited Shanghai, during which leaders of the base not only briefed their guests on the development of the informationisation support system of the base, but also accompanied the admiral to tour China's newly developed missile frigate. The admiral told his hosts repeatedly: "Your frankness shows that China is an important force for maintaining world peace!"

　　By Zhong Kuirun, Yu Zifu and Wu Hanyue

　　(Aug 28, PLA Daily)