Warship Visit
Only in a foreign country does one realize how much one misses home. On the morning of Sept. 6, 2013, I arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, with Naval Fleet 113.
The next day we opened the Qingdao and Linyi warships to the public. The two vessels were teeming with local Chinese residents and students. I came across two senior Chinese Americans on the flight deck. They stroked the rails with joy and pride in seeing the warships and aircraft from their home country. We took a photo together and one of them said: “It’s so inspiring for us overseas Chinese to see Chinese ships coming to the United States. This tells us that our country is getting stronger with a better navy.” After I said goodbye to them, I checked the guestbook and found one entry that said, “Though we live in a foreign land, we still love our country.”
Our ships arrived at Auckland, New Zealand, at 10 a.m. on Oct. 11. The dock was full of Chinese and students holding banners and waving Chinese flags to welcome us.
The Qingdao was opened to public over the next two days. More than 16,700 Chinese and locals came aboard, 10 times more than we had anticipated. Many of them came great distances in terrible rain and heavy winds. A Chinese woman from Wellington brought her son. While we chatted in our hometown dialect, her son ran around on the deck, looking all excited as if it was the Spring Festival. By the main artillery turret, an elderly Chinese who had lived in New Zealand for more than 40 years held my hand and said, “So glad to see Chinese ships abroad and stopping at foreign ports. It makes us overseas Chinese so proud.”
Back to Hawaii
I returned to Hawaii in the summer this year, when the Chinese navy participated in the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercise.
July 5 was the open day for warships and I had the opportunity to board the USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered super-carrier. If not for RIMPAC, I would never have had an opportunity to see this giant carrier.
After breakfast, a U.S. Navy representative took us to the carrier. Aboard the Reagan, we saw no aircraft in the hangar, only some spare parts and stalls selling souvenirs. Then we took the lift to the flight deck, where the Super Hornet, Prowler and Hawkeye and other fighter jets were parked. It was a feast for my eyes. Then we saw the chunky amphibious assault ship. It looked like a carrier, with a high freeboard. Aside from a helicopter hangar, it had a landing craft and support forces ashore.
Photos were allowed on both ships and there were neither bag searches nor ID checks -- a sign that they were at ease with people seeing the vessel. While it was an eye-opening experience, it also made me realize that a country’s overall strength stands behind a strong naval force. The gap between the U.S. Navy and us can be closed through more hard work and learning.
