Chinese navy keeps firm focus on northern shores as North Korean tensions rise
Yellow and Bohai seas remain the centre of naval drills in the last two years but China also working to project power around the globe
China’s navy has remained firmly focused on protecting its northern shores in the last two years – shifting its attention only briefly at the height of tensions in the South China Sea.
But military observers said the People’s Liberation Army Navy was also conducting more drills further afield to raise its international profile and extend its reach.
Since the start of 2015, the navy has carried out most of its reported drills in the Bohai and Yellow seas off North Korea and Japan.
It shifted focus to the South China Sea last year after a Hague tribunal ruled against China’s territorial claims in the area in July 2016.
But as the crisis on the Korean peninsula came to a simmer late last year, the Chinese navy looked north again and centred exercises in the Yellow Sea.
