Question: Recently, the PLA Navy held the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) in Qingdao, Shandong Province. A CMC leader attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Please share with us more details.
Wu Qian: From April 21 to 24, the PLA Navy held the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) in Qingdao, Shandong Province. Over 180 delegates from 29 navies or maritime defense department attended the event. General Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the CMC attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. Chinese and foreign delegates had in-depth discussions and reached broad consensus on major issues related to the symposium. They have discussed, voted and adopted the third edition of the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES) and the update of the Disaster Response Guide (DRG), and held in-depth discussions on topics such as the revision of the WPNS Business Charter, and the establishment of a research working group on unmanned systems with the Chinese side serving as the coordinator.
During the event, the PLA Navy hosted a high-level symposium themed “Oceans with a Shared Future”. Delegates from Russia, Indonesia, Colombia, Pakistan, France, Fiji and other countries shared their opinions. Leaders of the PLA Navy also had bilateral meetings and interactions with relevant delegations and arranged military and cultural visits for them. According to the delegates, the 19th WPNS is of great significance and far-reaching influence, which served as an important platform for countries to deepen friendship, promote exchanges and enhance mutual trust. They are ready to work with the Chinese side to further deepen practical cooperation at sea and contribute to maintaining maritime security and building a maritime community with a shared future.
This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the PLA Navy. Naval organs and units at various levels held a series of themed and diversified activities including national flag-raising ceremonies, ceremonies to salute the naval heroes, military camp and vessel open days, etc. These activities fully demonstrated the new look of the people's navy in pursuing its dreams in the new era, and its new achievements in fulfilling the PLA's centenary goal and elevating the PLA Navy to world-class standards. Considering the care and support of the general public for the navy, during this year's Naval Day activities around April 23, the PLA Navy opened more vessels of more types in more cities to the public, increased the number of visitors, and further opened over 100 different units including the Dalian Naval Academy and the Naval Submarine Academy, including military open-day in Qingdao for Chinese and international press.With such arrangements, more people from the press and the general public could have a close observation of the development of the PLA Navy in the new era, and the high morale and excellent conduct of our naval troops.