QINGDAO, China — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday urged closer ties among the world’s navies, even as tensions linger 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.
After his speech, Xi boarded the destroyer Xining, one of China’s modern warships, at the northern port of Qingdao to preside at the review, which also was to feature China’s sole commissioned aircraft carrier, numerous other surface ships and submarines, and a display of naval aviation.