Golden Horn Bay Witnesses a New Voyage of Sino-Russian Naval Friendship
Golden Horn Bay Witnesses a New Voyage of Sino-Russian Naval Friendship
— A Sideline Account of the Chinese Navy's Ship 83 Formation Visit to Vladivostok
■ Lan Tian, Zheng Hongsheng, PLA Daily Correspondent Xu Lin
Under clear skies along the shores of Golden Horn Bay, on June 27, accompanied by long and resonant horn blasts, the Chinese Navy's Ship 83 formation slowly departed the military port wharf at Vladivostok, Russia, having successfully concluded a four-day friendly visit. The Qi Jiguang and the Kunlunshan also completed their first visits to Russia since commissioning. Naval officers and sailors of China and Russia together painted a long scroll of friendship across mountains and seas, hand in hand and heart to heart, along the shores of Golden Horn Bay.
On June 23, as the Qi Jiguang and the Kunlunshan entered Golden Horn Bay in succession, the Russian Navy destroyer Marshal Shaposhnikov was already moored quietly at the military port wharf. The Qi Jiguang then moored stern-to alongside the Marshal Shaposhnikov. On the masts, the national flags of China and Russia fluttered and snapped in the wind.
This marked the second time that Vladivostok, a major Russian Far East military city, had welcomed a Chinese naval vessel formation, following the "Joint Sea-2025" exercise. The Russian military band played a lively welcoming march, and Russian girls dressed in traditional national costume, holding bread and salt as symbols of friendship, received the Chinese guests with the highest local ceremonial honors.
After the welcome ceremony, employees of Chinese-funded institutions and student representatives studying locally boarded the vessels for a tour, their hearts filled with excitement. "To board my motherland's warship in a foreign land — I feel doubly fortunate and proud!" said Chen Yu, a retired servicemember who has worked in Russia for many years, with deep feeling.
Russian officers and sailors showed great interest in the Chinese vessels. During the open-ship activities, officers and sailors of the Russian Navy's Pacific Fleet asked a series of questions about the shipborne equipment: "Does your ship carry helicopters?" "What are the performance characteristics of this naval gun?" The Chinese student guides answered each question patiently and in detail. Russian officer Kirill, who had trained alongside Chinese servicemembers during the 2024 joint exercise, said: "Chinese servicemembers are bold and resolute, with superb professional skills — deeply impressive. We are friends, and Russia and China are even better partners. I look forward to having more such opportunities for exchange in the future."
Russian officer Golovaty had still not had his fill even after descending the gangway, and was full of praise for the imposing Chinese warship and the professional explanations provided by the student guides. Wu Jiyang, a student from the Naval University of Engineering who was responsible for the guided tour, told reporters: "Once you step outside the country, every word and action represents China's image. For that reason I prepared carefully, to showcase the bearing of the Chinese Navy." The confidence and composure he displayed before the Russian officers and sailors is a vivid portrait of the vigorous spirit of the new generation of Chinese naval servicemembers.
On the evening of the 25th, the atmosphere on the flight deck of the Qi Jiguang was lively and warm. A deck reception was held there, featuring performances of outstanding traditional Chinese culture including calligraphy, the art of tea, ethnic dance, and Sichuan opera face-changing (变脸). The flavor of China and Chinese cuisine allowed the invited Russian guests and naval officers and sailors to feel a deep sense of friendship.
When the Russian naval student band sang the classic song "The Grass by the House," Zhou Chengxi, a student at the Naval Submarine Academy who had studied Russian, joined in singing alongside two Russian naval officers beside him. Zhou Chengxi also shared with them his unforgettable experience of boarding the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet flagship, the cruiser Varyag, for a visit in Qingdao when he was in middle school. Now, as Sino-Russian military exchange and cooperation continues to deepen, he has come to the Varyag's home port as a Chinese naval student.
As night fell, the lights of the harbor and the running lights of the warships shone against each other. The melody of "Moscow Nights" rang out, and the reception drew toward its close, yet the officers and sailors of both countries continued to talk freely of their friendship and take commemorative photographs together, reluctant to leave for a long while.
Not far away, inside the Russian Navy Pacific Fleet Museum, exhibits including the flag from "Peace Mission 2005" and the commemorative plate from "Joint Sea-2015" stood quietly on display, silently recording the solid steps of continuously deepening practical cooperation between the two militaries. Golden Horn Bay has welcomed Chinese naval vessels time and again, bearing witness to the continuously developing process of normalized military exchange between China and Russia.
Though the visit was brief, the friendship it concentrated is enduring. Against the backdrop of an era in which the great changes unseen in a century (百年变局) are accelerating, the two countries and two militaries of China and Russia will assuredly continue to deepen practical cooperation across all fields, and will continuously write new chapters of friendly exchanges and strategic coordination.
(PLA Daily, Vladivostok, June 27)