Navy ships may head to Somalia

China is all set to send a naval fleet on a mission to fight pirates in Somali waters, a military source told China Daily yesterday.

"There will be a significant peacekeeping operation (in Somalia)," the source said, but did not reveal the scale of the mission.

China will tell a United Nations Security Council meeting this morning (Beijing time) that "we wish to work with others to reach a positive outcome", a Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday, without confirming the status of the mission.

"The Chinese government supports the international community's decision to cooperate on the piracy problem according to international law and the UN Security Council's resolutions," Liu Jianchao told a news briefing yesterday, referring to Vice-Foreign Minister He Yafei's meeting in New York.

A local newspaper provided some details of the planned mission.

"The fleet will leave the South China Sea and head to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters," the Global Times reported yesterday.

A Chinese journalist who is likely to accompany the naval fleet said the operation would last three months.

Piracy off Somalia has intensified in recent months, with more attacks against a wider range of targets. But the problem is the most severe in the Gulf of Aden, which links the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.

Two Chinese ships - a fishing vessel and a Hong Kong-flag ship together with about 40 crew - were seized by Somali pirates in mid-November.

In September, pirates seized a Ukrainian freighter loaded with 33 battle tanks, and on November 15 they seized a Saudi oil tanker then carrying $100 million worth of crude.

About 100 attacks have been reported off the Somali coast this year. Forty vessels have been hijacked, with 14 still remaining in the hands of pirates along with more than 250 crew members, according to maritime officials.

The international community has already responded to the piracy problem, with the UN clearing the way for sending troops to the troubled waters by passing three resolutions since July.

More than a dozen warships from Italy, Greece, Turkey, India, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, Britain, Malaysia and the United States have so far joined the hunt, leaving China the only country among the five permanent members of the UN Security Council not yet taking an active part.

A military strategist told China Daily that joining other countries to fight Somali pirates would be a "very good opportunity" for the Chinese navy to get into the thick of the action.

"Apart from fighting pirates, another key goal is to register the presence of the Chinese navy," Professor Li Jie, a naval researcher, told China Daily.

China has never dispatched any troops on combat missions overseas. But in 2002, two Chinese vessels - a destroyer and a supplier - spent four months on a global tour, the country's first.

Li also would not confirm the mission but added that "if the navy's special forces join in, that will be in order to counter the pirates' attempt to board other ships".

"In general, the mission is to deter pirates, because that is the basic objective," he added.

Professor Pang Zhongying at Renmin University of China said "joining other fleets in the Somali waters will contribute to international security".

Earlier, Chinese army personnel joining UN peacekeeping missions were engineering and medical staff, police, or peacekeepers.

But now, dispatching naval ships would not be a problem, as the menace of Somali piracy has become a common threat to the whole international community, Pang said.

"China's image as a responsible sovereign nation will improve by participating in such missions," he said, but noted he didn't expect the number of troops in any such mission would be high.

"It would be on a limited scale initially," Pang said.

Questions:

1. The Gulf of Aden is linked with which other bodies of water?

2. Name four other countries that are joining to fight against Somali piracy.

3. Why does Professor Pang Zhongying think it is good for China to help fight against pirates?

Answers:

1. The Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.

2. Italy, Greece, Turkey, India, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, France, Russia, Britain, Malaysia and the United States.

3. It will improve China’s image as a responsible sovereign nation.