Commentary: Chinese ocean presence a must for peaceful development

Source: Xinhua | 04-24-2009 08:42

BEIJING, April 23 (Xinhua) -- After more than a year of preparations beneath local residents' eyes, an international fleet review massed in the water through which foreign warships entered China with opium in the 1890s.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) waves to the navy vessels  which are being reviewed while aboard the destroyer  Shijiazhuang in waters off Qingdao, east China's Shandong  Province, April 23, 2009. A parade displayed 25 naval  vessels and 31 aircrafts of the PLA Navy, including two  nuclear submarines, as part of a celebration to mark the  60th anniversary of the founding of the PLA Navy. (Xinhua/Wang Jianmin)

There were limited options for the nation, which at the time was hiding behind its walls, to stake claim to its maritime interests on a planet three-quarters covered by water.