The Global Times is owned by People’s Daily, but focused on international issues. Recently, it started its English version, and here is an example:
When Xiao Jin’guang, the former naval commander of the People’s Liberation Army, wanted to inspect a fleet base on an island 59 years ago, he could only find a fishery ship.
With a stern expression on his face, he told his entourage, “Remember, Navy Commander Xiao Jinguang took a fishery boat on his inspection tour on March 17, 1950.”
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy was founded on April 23, 1949, in Taizhou, eastern Jiangsu Province, with just nine warships and 17 boats obtained after a unit of the Kuomintang’s second coastal defense fleet defected to the PLA. In its early stages, the PLA fleet was mainly composed of wooden ships and sailing boats.