The recent visit to East Timor of a task force of ships from China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy marks a new phase of military-to-military co-operation between the two nations, said Liu Hongyang, China’s Ambassador to the archipelago.

The diplomat, quoted by Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua this week, also said the visit “will be a milestone” in the development of Sino-Timorese ties.

The Chinese navy’s task force 152 completed a five-day official visit to East Timor on Wednesday, the report said. It is the first visit by Chinese naval forces to East Timor since the archipelago became a sovereign state in 2002.

During the visit, officials of the Chinese navy met with their counterparts in East Timor. Task force personnel also visited a local school.