December 25, 2008: Chinese navy special forces troops conduct an anti-piracy drill on a ship’s deck. by Zha Chunming/Xinhua

The Weishanhu depot ship. CFP

Chinese naval commanders with the Somali escort mission during an interview. CFP

Chinese navy special forces troops prepare to ship out. by Li Tang/CFP

Chinese naval task force ships out for Somali waters. by Li Yanlin/CFP

December 26, 2008, marked a milestone in the history of China’s navy, when for the first time warships embarked on an international mission beyond the nation’s territorial waters. Shipping out from Sanya, China’s southernmost city on the island province of Hainan, the vessels, helicopters, officers, sailors and special forces troops were tasked with carrying out anti-piracy escorts in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia.

Serve and Protect

In recent years, the waters off Somalia have become one of the world’s most dangerous maritime routes. Among the many assaults and confrontations, on November 13, 2008, the Chinese fishing vessel Tianyu 8 was hijacked by Somali pirates. Then on December 17, another Chinese ship, the Zhenhua 4, owned by the China Communications Construction Corporation, was attacked.

Rampant piracy in Somali waters has generated international concern with resulting action. Seventeen countries, including 11 NATO members, have dispatched naval forces to the waters.

The UN Security Council adopted several resolutions which called on all countries and regions to work to defeat piracy off the Somali coast, as did the Somalia Government. Under these conditions, China decided to send naval forces to perform escort missions, explained Huang Xueping, spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of National Defence, during a press conference held on December 23, 2008. Setting the stage for the decision, Somalia’s ambassador to China, Mohammed Awil, stated that his country would welcome the Chinese navy to Somali waters to deter piracy.

On December 26, 2008, the naval task force departing Sanya was comprised of the Wuhan and Haikou guided missile destroyers, the Weishanhu depot ship, and two K-28 helicopters. The force included 800 sailors and other military personnel. The voyage spanned 4,400 nautical miles, on a heading via the South China Sea, the Singapore Strait, the Strait of Malacca and the Indian Ocean.

Chinese Navy Commander Wu Shengli, a member of the Central Military Commission of China, commented that this was the first time China’s navy performed a peacekeeping mission upon the waters of a distant ocean, and this marked an important step in securing the national interest and bolstering efforts at world peace.

Profile in Piracy

Piracy off the Somali coast has posed a threat to international shipping since the nation’s civil war in 1991. To raise cash to purchase weapons, armed groups began to hijack ships and demand ransoms. It is estimated that in the past two years the pirates’ total illicit take exceeded $30 million. The Gulf of Aden off the Somali coast is one the world’s busiest sea lanes, with thousands of ships passing through each day. So pirates need not worry about a shortage of targets.

French female photographer Véronique de Viguerie recorded with her lens a pirate force led by 39-year-old Hassan. The group, formed three years ago, comprises 350 members, most of whom are former fishermen and veterans of armed factions. The former fishermen are expert boatmen, the veterans are skilled with weapons, and younger people with computer skills operate GPS devices and communications gear.

Task Force

The three warships China dispatched to Somalia, designed independently by the nation, are equipped with advanced weaponry, and their crews performed well in past naval drills and operations. The application of ship-borne digital networks and automatic command and control systems enables the vessels and crews to carry out naval expeditions far beyond Chinese territorial waters with enhanced self maintenance capabilities.

In recent decades the Chinese navy has gained increasing levels of experience in oceanic expeditions. In 1985, China’s Hefei missile destroyer and X615 depot ship visited South Asia. In 2002, the Qingdao missile destroyer and Taicang depot ship cruised across the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. During these voyages, the Chinese navy gained more data concerning global marine geography.

Notable among the Somali task force are 70 navy special forces members. According to Commander Xie Zengling, these highly trained and highly skilled men have at the ready specialized countermeasures, should a pirate assault occur. Among other specialized abilities, they are expert marksmen, trained at airborne assault, and are able to stealthily scale the hulls of warships at sea.

Acting on Authorization

On December 16, 2008, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1851, which authorizes nations and international organizations to take “all necessary measures to suppress acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea” in Somalia for 12 months.

Li Juqian, a doctor of Public International Law from China University of Political Science and Law, said that a nation planning to dispatch naval forces to fight against piracy off the Somali coast must acquire authorization from both the UN Security Council and the Somalia interim government. This China did.

According to Professor Meng Xiangqing, with the College of International Relations of the National Defense University of China, China’s naval peacekeeping action conforms to international law and UN resolutions.

Multi-Mission

On December 25, 2008, the Maritime Safety Administration of China announced that beginning on January 6, 2009, Chinese vessels cruising the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia might submit escort requests to the China Ship-owners’ Association, which were then reported to the Ministry of Transport.

According to Ju Chengzhi, director of the ministry’s Department of International Cooperation, the main task of the mission is to protect Chinese commercial vessels and crews, as well as ships carrying humanitarian relief materials of international organizations, such as the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. Escorted ships and their owners are not required to pay for convoy services.

At 11 am local time, on January 6, 2009, the Chinese task force entered the Gulf of Aden and was soon escorting the Chinese merchant ships Hanihe, Jinhe, Hebei Aoxiang and Guanyin.

According to the China Navy Escort Fleet Command, the fleet will patrol in seven zones in the Gulf of Aden and waters off the Somali east coast.

Cooperative Course

At present, 97 percent of China’s imported and exported cargos are transported via sea routes. It is estimated by 2020, 60 percent of oil consumed by China will be imported, most of which will be shipped via the sea. Maritime safety has become an important part of national security. In an era of globalization, it has become common for many countries to dispatch naval forces across the seas to protect their maritime interest.

China’s move to deploy its navy to the waters off Somalia was met with some concern in the international community. Although China still has disputes with its Southeast Asian neighbors concerning its sovereignty over the Nansha Islands, Ferdinand Golez, officer-in-command of the Philippine Navy, stated, “China is just protecting its own interest. It's a concern, but it's not a cause of worry for us.”

C. Uday Bhaskar, an Indian strategic analyst, commented that China’s move was for the interest of international community and would not alter the strategic balance of the Indian Ocean.

On December 26, 2008, however, the Associated Press quoted Denny Roy, a senior fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii, as saying that China’s move “opens the possibility of a China-U.S. naval rivalry in the future.”

Military expert Chen Zhou said that China’s deployment of a naval force abroad aims merely to protect the nation’s interests, and the move is not part of a broader objective to seek maritime expansion.

Chen Hu, editor-in-chief of World Military Affairs magazine, stated in his commentary report that the Chinese navy will not become a threat, as some predict, and that its primary mission is to safeguard the national interest, undertake international obligations and secure regional and world peace.