China to attend donor conference

Calling for more efforts to deal with the rampant piracy in the Gulf of Aden, China yesterday said it would attend an international donors conference on Somalia.

China is among the many countries that have sent naval ships to patrol the waters off Somalia to prevent pirate attacks on commercial vessels.

Despite the presence of several patrol forces, Somali pirates have attacked more than 80 vessels this year and are holding at least 14 ships and over 200 crew members, according to Xinhua.

"We call for more efforts and inputs to uproot causes of the rampant piracy to keep the peace and stability of Somalia," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu told reporters.

Jiang also said that China would send senior diplomats from its EU delegation to the two-day international donors conference that will start today in Brussels.

The conference, which will also be attended by representatives of the United Nations, the African Union and the European Union, aims to raise funds to bolster the African Union peacekeeping force and the Somali police force.

Wu Miaofa, an expert on the United Nations with the China Institute for International Studies, told China Daily that Somali piracy is high on the UN's agenda because "it has threatened normal sea transportation, threatened seafarers' lives and possessions and caused instability".

"The lure of large sums of ransom and the ease of escaping punishment due to a lack of law enforcement are the reasons behind the resurgent piracy," Wu said.

He warned that the fight against Somali piracy will be "difficult and long-lasting".

Patrol forces at sea alone won't help rein in piracy, Wu said and added that the political instability and destitution in the lawless country must be addressed to tackle piracy.

"The world will have to help the Somali government improve its governance, retain the political stability and develop the weak economy," Wu said and noted that the donors conference will help combat piracy.

Questions:

1. Where will the international conference on Somali piracy take place?

2. What are the two aims of the conference?

Answers:

1. In Brussels.

2. To raise funds to bolster the African Union peacekeeping force and the Somali police force.