China shows off its expanding navy

- China celebrated its military confidence at sea on Thursday, when anniversary celebrations for the founding of its navy climaxed with a show of the warships and submarines projecting its spreading power.
The fleet parade off the mist-shrouded eastern port city of Qingdao marks 60 years since the founding of the People's Liberation Army Navy, long the somewhat neglected arm of China's military forces.

The spectacle included two of China's nuclear-powered Long March submarines, vessels capable of firing ballistic missiles far from the country's shores, the China Daily reported.

State television showed President Hu Jintao, decked out in white gloves and a dark suit, standing on a Chinese warship waving to the passing fleet as it paraded past on calm seas.

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