{"id":65343,"date":"2017-07-12T15:57:21","date_gmt":"2017-07-12T15:57:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T13:15:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T13:15:16","slug":"chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>BEIJING \u2014 In a demonstration of the Chinese navy&#8217;s expanding global reach, the country&#8217;s latest-generation warships conducted live-firing drills in the Mediterranean Sea this week while en route to joint exercises with the Russian navy, the defense ministry said Wednesday.<br\/><br\/>The destroyer Hefei, frigate Yuncheng and support ship Luomahu took part in Monday&#8217;s drills involving the ship&#8217;s deck guns and small arms, the ministry said in a notice on its website.<br\/><br\/>&#8220;Maintaining a strict schedule of targeted exercises accomplishes transit, training and improvement en route, raising the flotilla&#8217;s training levels and capabilities,&#8221; it quote flotilla commander Liu Hui as saying.<br\/><br\/>The ships will next take part in the &#8220;Joint Sea 2017&#8221; exercises in waters off the Russian cities of St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad, part of growing cooperation between the countries&#8217; militaries.<br\/><br\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Yuncheng \" data-alignment=\"center\" data-object-id=\"0000015d-3781-d8c8-ab5d-bfd9efff0000\" data-type=\"image\" src=\"http:\/\/snagfilms-a.akamaihd.net\/ee\/12\/06ddec194ee0ada42c87619e8f29\/yuncheng.jpg\"\/><figcaption> <span>Chinese navy servicemen stand at the ready next to a large armament, onboard the Chinese missile frigate Yuncheng (571) in Hong Kong on April 30, 2012.<\/span><\/figcaption><figcaption> <span>Photo Credit: Aaron Tam\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption>China&#8217;s navy is the world&#8217;s second-largest behind the U.S. and is increasingly operating in the Mediterranean, aided by the construction of a naval logistics base in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti.<br\/><br\/>Two naval ships departed Tuesday from the southern Chinese port of Zhanjiang with personnel to man the facility, China&#8217;s first overseas military base.<br\/><br\/>While China says the base is needed to support peacekeeping, anti-piracy and other missions in the region, Beijing&#8217;s rivalry with the U.S. is considered a key driving force behind the country&#8217;s military expansion.<br\/><br\/>&#8220;The U.S. Navy is also more combat ready because it has been actively participating in joint drills and regional wars for decades,&#8221; the official China Daily newspaper said in an editorial Wednesday.<br\/><br\/><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;This means China has to work harder to become a major naval power that can better defend its territorial rights and sovereignty,&#8221; it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Tuesday, China&#8217;s sole operating aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, departed Hong Kong after a visit aimed at inspiring patriotism among citizens of the former British colony that reverted to Chinese rule 20 years ago. Taiwan&#8217;s defense ministry said it was monitoring the progress of the carrier and its escorts as they traveled northward along the western portion of the Taiwan Strait.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a demonstration of the Chinese navy&#8217;s expanding global reach, the country&#8217;s latest-generation warships conducted live-firing drills in the Mediterranean Sea this week while en route to joint exercises with the Russian navy, the defense ministry said Wednesday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":101945,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[16,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1344],"class_list":["post-65343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"7NV3Q34VVJHMZD24ZZUN4YKL2U","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a demonstration of the Chinese navy&#039;s expanding global reach, the country&#039;s latest-generation warships conducted live-firing drills in the Mediterranean Sea this week while en route to joint exercises with the Russian navy, the defense ministry said Wednesday.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a demonstration of the Chinese navy&#039;s expanding global reach, the country&#039;s latest-generation warships conducted live-firing drills in the Mediterranean Sea this week while en route to joint exercises with the Russian navy, the defense ministry said Wednesday.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Air Force TImes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-12T15:57:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-08T13:15:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"The Associated Press\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"The Associated Press\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"headline\": \"Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2017-07-12T15:57:21+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T13:15:16+00:00\",\n\t            \"mainEntityOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"wordCount\": 388,\n\t            \"commentCount\": 0,\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/yuncheng.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"articleSection\": [\n\t                \"News\",\n\t                \"Pentagon &amp; Congress\"\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"CommentAction\",\n\t                    \"name\": \"Comment\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/#respond\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebPage\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean - Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#website\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"primaryImageOfPage\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/#primaryimage\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"thumbnailUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/yuncheng.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"datePublished\": \"2017-07-12T15:57:21+00:00\",\n\t            \"dateModified\": \"2026-08-08T13:15:16+00:00\",\n\t            \"description\": \"In a demonstration of the Chinese navy's expanding global reach, the country's latest-generation warships conducted live-firing drills in the Mediterranean Sea this week while en route to joint exercises with the Russian navy, the defense ministry said Wednesday.\",\n\t            \"breadcrumb\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/#breadcrumb\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ReadAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": [\n\t                        \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/\"\n\t                    ]\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/#primaryimage\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/yuncheng.jpg.jpg\",\n\t            \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/yuncheng.jpg.jpg\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"BreadcrumbList\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/12\\\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\\\/#breadcrumb\",\n\t            \"itemListElement\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 1,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Home\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"home\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 2,\n\t                    \"name\": \"News\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"news\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 3,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Pentagon &amp; Congress\",\n\t                    \"item\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/news\\\/pentagon-congress\\\/\",\n\t                    \"ad_zone\": \"pentagon-congress\"\n\t                },\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"ListItem\",\n\t                    \"position\": 4,\n\t                    \"name\": \"Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean\"\n\t                }\n\t            ]\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"WebSite\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#website\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"description\": \"Independent News For Airmen | Air Force Times\",\n\t            \"publisher\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"potentialAction\": [\n\t                {\n\t                    \"@type\": \"SearchAction\",\n\t                    \"target\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"EntryPoint\",\n\t                        \"urlTemplate\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"\n\t                    },\n\t                    \"query-input\": {\n\t                        \"@type\": \"PropertyValueSpecification\",\n\t                        \"valueRequired\": true,\n\t                        \"valueName\": \"search_term_string\"\n\t                    }\n\t                }\n\t            ],\n\t            \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\"\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Organization\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#organization\",\n\t            \"name\": \"Air Force TImes\",\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/\",\n\t            \"logo\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/air-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/air-logo-white.png\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"Air Force TImes\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"\n\t            }\n\t        },\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Person\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\",\n\t            \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t            \"image\": {\n\t                \"@type\": \"ImageObject\",\n\t                \"inLanguage\": \"en-US\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec\",\n\t                \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"contentUrl\": \"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\n\t                \"caption\": \"migration\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"url\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/airforcetimes\\\/author\\\/migration\\\/\"\n\t        }\n\t    ]\n\t}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean - Air Force TImes","description":"In a demonstration of the Chinese navy's expanding global reach, the country's latest-generation warships conducted live-firing drills in the Mediterranean Sea this week while en route to joint exercises with the Russian navy, the defense ministry said Wednesday.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean","og_description":"In a demonstration of the Chinese navy's expanding global reach, the country's latest-generation warships conducted live-firing drills in the Mediterranean Sea this week while en route to joint exercises with the Russian navy, the defense ministry said Wednesday.","og_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/","og_site_name":"Air Force TImes","article_published_time":"2017-07-12T15:57:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-08T13:15:16+00:00","author":"The Associated Press","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"The Associated Press","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/"},"author":{"name":"migration","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1"},"headline":"Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean","datePublished":"2017-07-12T15:57:21+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T13:15:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/"},"wordCount":388,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/yuncheng.jpg.jpg","articleSection":["News","Pentagon &amp; Congress"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/","name":"Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean - Air Force TImes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/yuncheng.jpg.jpg","datePublished":"2017-07-12T15:57:21+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-08T13:15:16+00:00","description":"In a demonstration of the Chinese navy's expanding global reach, the country's latest-generation warships conducted live-firing drills in the Mediterranean Sea this week while en route to joint exercises with the Russian navy, the defense ministry said Wednesday.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/yuncheng.jpg.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/yuncheng.jpg.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/07\/12\/chinese-navy-ships-conduct-live-fire-drills-in-mediterranean\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","ad_zone":"home"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/","ad_zone":"news"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Pentagon &amp; Congress","item":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/","ad_zone":"pentagon-congress"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Chinese navy ships conduct live-fire drills in Mediterranean"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","name":"Air Force TImes","description":"Independent News For Airmen | Air Force Times","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#organization","name":"Air Force TImes","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/air-logo-white.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/air-logo-white.png","caption":"Air Force TImes"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1","name":"migration","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=gcf4cb6ee0ec29e49e7a963234e4340ec","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9e8d47be443ce94ce7fc357677b5f9c70235bb1f59e7267a102a74af58c04f59?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"migration"},"url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/author\/migration\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Air Force TImes","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes","push-errors":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/yuncheng.jpg.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65343"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65354,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65343\/revisions\/65354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65343"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=65343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}