South China Sea Doctrine Political Work

July: Keeping Watch in the Ceaseless Waves of the Maritime Frontier

七月，守望在浪涛不息的海疆里

PLA Daily (解放军报) 31 July 2026

Summary

A Xinhua reporter embedded with a Radar and Communications Station (观通站) of the Southern Theater Command Navy on an unspecified South China Sea island, documenting garrison life through three named personnel — twenty-year veteran He Ping, medic Jiang Yi, and re-enlisted college soldier Yin Ao — and observing a first-level combat readiness drill (一级战备拉动). This is standard political work content from official military media; its value is as a record of how the Southern Theater Command Navy frames long-term island garrison duty, family sacrifice, and the 'peacetime is wartime' (平时即战时) posture to a domestic audience, not as evidence of changed readiness or new capability. The specific island and station designation are withheld, leaving the unit's exact location and order of battle undocumented.

Translation

Reporter's Notebook | Ceaseless Waves, Unceasing Watch

Xinhua News Agency Reporter Wang Hui

In July, the South China Sea swells rise and fall without pause. Salt-laden sea winds wrapped in waves of heat beat again and again against remote islands. Here, temperatures are perpetually high, humidity is perpetually high, salinity is perpetually high; the winds are strong, the fog is thick, and natural conditions are extremely harsh. In recent days, I set foot on this frontier island and followed the officers and soldiers of a Radar and Communications Station (观通站) of the Southern Theater Command Navy on their patrol and cable inspection routes, personally experienced a first-level combat readiness drill (一级战备拉动), and listened to stories of island garrison life. This island journey gave me a genuine sense that "keeping watch" (守望) has never been an empty slogan — it is the mark that generation after generation of coastal defense officers and soldiers have carved into time with the warmth of their lives.

Choosing to take root on an isolated island is the most profound inscription of youth for island garrison officers and soldiers. Twenty years ago, when He Ping first arrived on the island, the station was still in a completely primitive state — transportation was cut off, resupply was difficult, and when heavy winds and waves struck, it was common for daily necessities to go undelivered for weeks. Drawing on his personal skills, he chiseled characters into the reef rocks, adding a touch of home's warmth to the desolate island; what began as one man's solitary exploration grew into a station-wide endeavor, and the stone carvings gradually became a spiritual symbol passed down through the entire station to this day. Through twenty years of winters and summers, new equipment has been continuously fielded and the scope of observation and support has steadily expanded, yet he has remained rooted on this island throughout. "Someone always has to stand watch here. The radar cannot stop; the watch over ten thousand families' lights cannot be broken." In those plain words lies the sincere original heart (赤诚初心) of a veteran soldier, and they have inspired wave after wave of new recruits to carry on the garrison and take root on the island.

Choosing mutual support is the most tender promise of home and country for island garrison officers and soldiers. On the reef rocks by the shore during a rest break from the cable patrol, medic Jiang Yi showed me a photograph of his children — a photograph that holds the softest longing of island garrison officers and soldiers. He married in 2020, just as the pandemic struck; a wedding that should have arrived as promised is a debt he has owed his wife for a full six years. His wife, caring alone for a six-year-old son and an infant daughter still in swaddling clothes, has always reported only good news from home and never the hardships, bearing the full weight of the family on her slender shoulders, all so that he can perform his duties with peace of mind and guard the maritime frontier. "She guards our small family, so I can guard this sea." From a young man to a veteran island soldier, he has tucked his longing into the salt-laden sea wind and shouldered his responsibilities, letting the promise of "you guard the nation, I guard the home" (你守国、我守家) grow ever more steadfast with the rise and fall of the tides.

Choosing to carry on the relay of garrison duty is the most sincere expression of loyalty for island garrison officers and soldiers. Yin Ao, the soldier who was the first to detect a suspicious target during the first-level combat readiness drill, is a college-educated soldier who enlisted a second time. Influenced by his father's generation and older brothers, he yearned for military life from childhood; after his first enlistment he left to complete his studies, yet he could never let go of the soldier's calling in his heart. In the year he graduated, he resolutely chose to put on the uniform again, transferring from a mountain outpost to an island combat position. "The first time I served, I was driven by a surge of energy to temper myself; coming back this time, I have truly come to understand the weight of the uniform." The position has changed, the environment has changed, but the duty to garrison the frontier and safeguard peace has never changed. Taking the baton from the hands of the veterans, he has firmly nailed his youth to his combat post, continuing to write the story of loyal commitment (忠诚担当) of a new-era coastal defense soldier through professional excellence and steadfast perseverance.

He Ping entrusts his original heart to stone carvings, rooted on the isolated island for twenty years without regret; Jiang Yi carries his longing close, using his small family to support the great nation's peace; Yin Ao returns to the ranks bearing his dreams, growing and honing his skills at his combat post in succession… Every officer and soldier stationed here is an ordinary, unremarkable person, yet in the daily rhythm of rising and falling tides, they are writing an extraordinary story of watching over the maritime frontier.

Keeping watch is the eternal theme of this island. How many combat readiness duty shifts through the changing of dawn and dusk, how many cable patrol and protection missions on slippery mountain paths, how many silent acts of perseverance in high-temperature, high-humidity conditions… In a state of combat readiness that means sleeping with weapons at the ready around the clock — "peacetime is wartime" (平时即战时) — the officers and soldiers carve their loyalty into the reef rocks of the South China Sea through their actions, and with the blood of their youth they safeguard the peace of the nation's seas and skies.

Only by stepping onto the reef rocks can one truly feel the pulse of the island; only by gazing at the radar can one truly understand the weight of keeping watch. Having patrolled and stood watch alongside the island garrison soldiers and witnessed their combat readiness, the image of the coastal defense servicemember in my eyes has grown ever clearer and more vivid. They have placed their youth on an isolated island, fused their sense of responsibility into the waves, and through day after day of steadfast perseverance, they guard the peace of the maritime frontier — and guard the lights of ten thousand families behind them.

The waves are ceaseless. The watch does not stop.

Original Chinese

记者手记丨浪涛不息守望不止新华社记者王慧七月的南海，浪涛此起彼伏。咸湿的海风裹着热浪，一遍遍拍打着偏远岛屿。这里常年高温高湿高盐，风大雾大、自然条件十分艰苦。近日，我踏上这座边陲岛屿，跟随南部战区海军某观通站官兵踏查巡线路、亲历一级战备拉动、聆听守岛故事。这趟海岛之行让我真切体会到，“守望”从来不是一句空洞的口号，而是一代代海防官兵用生命的热度，在时光里刻下的印记。选择扎根孤岛，是海岛官兵最厚重的青春镌刻。20年前，何平初上岛时，站里还是一片原生态，交通闭塞、补给困难，遇上大风浪，生活物资数周送不上来是常事。凭着一身特长，他在礁石上凿刻字句，为荒寂的海岛添上家的温度，从一人摸索到全员参与，石刻渐渐成了全站传承至今的精神符号。二十载寒来暑往，新装备持续列装、观察保障范围不断拓展，他却始终扎根在这座岛上。“总有人要守着这里，雷达不能停，万家灯火的守望不能断。”朴实的话语里，藏着一名老兵的赤诚初心，也激励着一批批新兵接续戍守、扎根海岛。选择双向托举，是海岛官兵最温柔的家国承诺。巡线休整的海边礁石上，卫生员蒋义向我展示的那张儿女的合照，藏着海岛官兵最柔软的牵挂。2020年结婚恰逢疫情，一场本该如约而至的婚礼，他欠了妻子整整六年。独自照顾六岁儿子和襁褓中女儿的妻子，始终对家里的事报喜不报忧，用柔弱肩膀扛起小家的全部重担，只为让他安心执勤、守护海疆。“她守着我们的小家，我才能守好这片大海。”从少年到守岛老兵，他把思念藏进咸湿的海风，把责任扛在肩头，让“你守国、我守家”的承诺，在潮起潮落里愈发坚定。选择接力戍守，是海岛官兵最赤诚的忠诚底色。一级战备拉动中率先发现可疑目标的战士殷傲，是一名二次入伍的大学生士兵。受父辈兄长的影响，他自幼向往军营，第一次退伍去完成学业，却始终放不下心底的军人情结。毕业那年他毅然选择重穿军装，从高山哨所转战海岛战位。“第一次当兵是凭着一股冲劲历练自己，这次回来，才真正读懂了军装的分量。”阵地变了、环境变了，戍守边关、守护安宁的职责始终未变。接过老兵手中的接力棒，他把青春牢牢钉在战位上，用专业与坚守续写着新时代海防兵的忠诚担当。何平以石刻寄初心，二十年扎根孤岛不言悔；蒋义藏思念于怀，用小家托举大国安宁；殷傲携梦想归队，在战位接续成长砺本领……驻守在这里的每一名官兵，都是平凡的普通人，却在日复一日的潮起潮落里，书写着不平凡的海疆守望故事。守望，是这座海岛永恒的主题词。多少次晨昏交替的战备值班，多少次湿滑山路上的巡线护缆，多少次高温高湿环境里的默默坚守……24小时枕戈待旦、“平时即战时”的战备状态里，官兵们用实际行动把忠诚镌刻在南海礁石上，用青春热血守护着祖国海空的安宁。踏上礁石，才能真切触摸海岛的脉动；凝望雷达，更能读懂守望的分量。和守岛官兵一同巡线执勤、见证战备，我眼中的海防军人形象愈发清晰鲜活，他们把青春安放在孤岛之上，把责任融入到浪涛之中，用日复一日的坚守，守护着海疆的安宁，也守护着身后的万家灯火。浪涛不息，守望不止。