(Kanwa news 15 Feb) The PLA Daily News Paper has lately indicated that the new submarinethat had been delivered to the Chinese navy in May 1997 was deployed at the military port surrounded by the coconut forest and it underwent an in-depth torpedo attack training in the strange area of the South China Sea in June 1998. This, once again, proves that the Chinese navy has frequented the South China Sea in recent years and it has covered an ever more extensive, new area. According to the analysis of the KWIC expert, this is an upgraded Ming-class submarine as, in 1997, a Ming-class submarine of the same type was launched into the water. The Ming-class submarine that now serves the South China Sea Fleet is equipped with a satellite-guiding system. Not including this new submarine, the Chinese navy owns a total of 15 Ming-class submarines, all of which serve the North Sea Fleet. Therefore, the above report of the PLA Daily newspaper shows that the Ming-class submarine has now started to be used on the South China Sea. This is another demonstration of the step that the Chinese navy has taken in enhancing the construction of its South Sea Fleet. (Kanwa news Andrei Pinkov).

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