CHINA/AT SEA: China announces plans to send warships to sea off Somalia help protect ships from pirates

Record ID: 590843

  • Title: CHINA/AT SEA: China announces plans to send warships to sea off Somalia help protect ships from pirates
  • Date: 18th December 2008
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (DECEMBER 18, 2008) (REUTERS) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN LIU JIANCHAO WALKING IN FOR REGULAR PRESS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN LIU JIANCHAO SAYING: "The Chinese government has paid great attention to the situation and relevant departments made immediate rescue arrangements and guided the crew to try to stall the pirates, and asked the Malaysia Anti-piracy Center of the International Marine Board to coordinate the ships around the area to come to their rescue. Then the Malaysian authorities sent armed helicopters and military vessels to the area to rescue them. With coordinated efforts from all the relevant parties, the pirates finally retreated.'' NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN LIU JIANCHAO SAYING: ''China has lately been positively considering sending warships to the Somalian area of the Gulf of Aden to participate in the escorting of vessels. China is making active preparations and the related deployments to send warships to Somali waters in the Gulf of Aden to escort vessels,''
  • Embargoed: 2nd January 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA76VTSFNTPVN8KUCNG9TYBDDCG
  • Story Text: China announces plans to send warships to the seas off Somalia to help international efforts in fighting piracy after a Chinese ship and crew are rescued from Somali pirates.
    A day after a Chinese crew in the Gulf of Aden was rescued from pirates by a multinational force, China announced it would send its own ships to help protect ships in the sea off Aden from attackers.
    The crew of the ship, Zhenhua 4, reportedly barricaded themselves on Wednesday in their cabins until help arrived.
    China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao explained the course of events at a news briefing in Beijing on Thursday (December 18).
    "The Chinese government paid great attention to the situation, and relevant departments made immediate rescue arrangements and guided the crew to try to stall the pirates, and asked the Indonesian Anti-piracy Centre of the International Marine Board to coordinate the ships around the area to come to their rescue. Then the Indonesian authorities sent armed helicopters and military vessels to the area to rescue them. With coordinated efforts from all the relevant parties, the pirates finally retreated," Liu said.
    Liu added China would send warships to the seas off Somalia to help international efforts to fight piracy there, in what would be the first operation of its kind for Beijing.
    NATO ships began anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast in late October, but they have failed to stop the rampant hijackings, and other nations are now pitching in.
    Piracy in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia has become a major headache as it pushes up insurance costs or forces ships to take alternative routes.
    ''China has lately been positively considering sending warships to the Somalian area of the Gulf of Aden to participate in the escorting of vessels.
    China is making active preparations and the related deployments to send warships to Somali waters in the Gulf of Aden to escort vessels,'' Liu said.
    Earlier this month, a prominent Chinese military strategist, Major-General Jin Yinan, urged the government to send ships in comments reflecting the debate about combating piracy in a country which has generally confined its navy to waters near home.
    China's navy recently conducted its first large-scale anti-terror drill involving a full fleet formation in the South China Sea, state television reported on Sunday (December 14) The drill, which took place in an unnamed stretch of the ocean to China's south, involved a frigate, missile destroyer, helicopters, commercial vessels simulating cargo ships and possibly a submarine.
    China says its increasingly high-tech military forces are purely for defensive purposes.
    It has traditionally kept troops close to home and out of international operations, reflecting a doctrine of non-interference in other nations' affairs.
    But its growing wealth and influence have led to calls for it to take a greater role protecting world peace, even as Western nations fret about its increasing military power.
    It is now involved in peacekeeping operations around the world including Haiti and Sudan's troubled Darfur region, and was praised in July by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for its
    contribution of both funds and forces.
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