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US navy ship arrives in China for int'l fleet review

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-19 19:38

US navy missile destroyer USS Fitzgerald arrived here on Sunday afternoon to attend an international fleet review on April 23 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy.

Mexican naval soldiers stand on the masts of their military ship upon its arrival at the Qingdao port in east China's Shandong province, April 18, 2009. [Xinhua] more photos

The 6,800-tonne USS Fitzgerald, a Japan-based destroyer from the 7th Fleet, arrived at the port city Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province at 3:30 pm.

Earlier Sunday, US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead  said at a press briefing in Beijing that he and the Commander of the 7th Fleet Vice Admiral John Bird would also fly to Qingdao to join the event.

Related readings:  Chinese navy to mark 60th anniversary  Chinese PLA Navy to celebrate founding anniversary  Navy chief lists key objective  Chinese navy expands foreign cooperation

Roughead, who is the highest-ranking US officer to visit China this year, said he believed the military-to-military relationship was important to the broad US-China relationship.

Roughead said during his talks with PLA Navy Commander Adm. Wu Shengli on Saturday, they exchanged views on enhancing navy-to-navy cooperation and both navies' operations off the coast of Somalia.

Roughead's last China visit was in November 2006 when he served as commander of the US Pacific Fleet.

Commissioned in October 1995, USS Fitzgerald was one of 15 destroyers and three cruisers which were deployed to counter ballistic missile threats worldwide. She arrived in Yokosuka, Japan in 2004 to join the US 7th Fleet.

USS Fitzgerald was also one of the two US vessels to take part in the second-phase of the first China-US search and rescue exercise in 2006 in the South China Sea.

Previously, landing vessel Garcia D'avila of the Brazilian Navy, carrying a total of 49 soldiers and officers, arrived at Qingdao at 10:00 a.m..

Sailing ship ARM Cuauhtemoc of the Mexican Navy, destroyer Badr and supply ship Nasr of the Pakistan Navy arrived on Saturday evening. They were the first three among a total of 21 foreign naval vessels from 14 countries scheduled to rendezvous here for the fleet review.

As the paramount part of the naval celebration, the visiting ships will observe a naval parade of about 20 Chinese warships and attend the international fleet review to be staged in the waters southeast of the city.