18th Chinese escort taskforce's first visit to Netherlands

Rear Adm. Zhang Chuanshu, commanding officer of the 18th Chinese naval escort taskforce and deputy chief of staff of the South China Sea Fleet of the PLAN, is shaking hands with Rear Adm. Ben Burkeling, deputy commander of the RNN, on the morning of January 26, 2015. (Chinamil.com.cn/Xiao Yong)

The 18th escort taskforce of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), consisting of the amphibious dock landing ship "Changbaishan", the guided missile frigate "Yuncheng" and the comprehensive supply ship "Chaohu", arrived at the Port of Rotterdam of the Netherlands on the morning of January 26, 2015, for a 4-day-long goodwill visit to the Netherlands.

This is the first time for the PLAN taskforce to visit the Netherlands since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between China and the Netherlands.

More than 700 persons including Chen Xu, Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands, representatives of China-funded institutions in the Netherlands, Chinese nationals and overseas Chinese as well as officers and men of the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN) lined up at the pier to welcome the taskforce of the PLAN.

During the welcoming ceremony at the pier, Rear Adm. Ben Burkeling, deputy commander of the RNN, expressed his warm congratulation on PLAN's successful completion of the naval escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and his welcome to its follow-up visit to the Netherlands.

He expressed that the Dutch side is willing to strengthen the exchanges and cooperation with the Chinese side, be jointly committed to anti-terrorism and anti-piracy missions, and safeguard the maritime peace and stability. He also wished that the PLAN taskforce has a successful visit to the Netherlands.

Rear Adm. Zhang Chuanshu, commanding officer of the 18th Chinese naval escort taskforce and deputy chief of staff of the South China Sea Fleet of the PLAN, said that the PLAN taskforce's visit to the Netherlands is for establishing peace and friendship, deepening mutual understanding and enhancing the friendly relations between the two countries as well as the exchanges between the two militaries.

He believed that the visit can further build a maritime "Asia-Europe continental bridge" between China and the Netherlands and push forward the constant development of friendly relations between the two navies.

During the visit, the officers and men of the two sides will hold activities including visiting each other's warships, exchanging anti-piracy and escort experience and holding friendly basketball and badminton matches, and in addition, the PLAN's warships will be open to the public, so as to showcase the PLAN's good image of openness, self-confidence, harmony and cooperation.