Chinese President Xi Jinping urged closer ties between the world’s navies on Tuesday, amid tensions over China’s rapid expansion of its naval forces and forceful assertions of territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Xi’s remarks came in an address to foreign naval officers attending a fleet review marking the 70th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Navy, an event Beijing is using to showcase its growing ability to exert force far from its shores.
Following his speech, Xi boarded the destroyer Xining, one of China’s most modern and capable warships, at the northern port of Qingdao to preside at the review, which will also feature China’s sole commissioned aircraft carrier, numerous other surface ships and submarines and a display of naval aviation.