So, I'm writing on a snowy day. December wasn't as cold last year and this year delighted my wife with ice falling out of the sky. A first for her.
China in general has another "first" going on. They are taking part of the international anti-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia. You might recall a news item a little while back where pirates captured a cargo ship loaded with tanks, spare parts and ammunition. The ransom demand was in millions of dollars and they still hold the ship captive. The Russians sent the Sovremenny missile destroyer to the area, but so far the ship has yet to be released. A little later and now the Chinese are also going in.
They aren't going in for the Russian tanks, of course. They are doing it because the Gulf of Aden is an important shipping route and because the international effort already rescued the Chinese merchant Zhenhua 4 last Wednesday. It's most likely a tacit show of force as well. Nothing threathening, but a quiet reminder that yes, China has a modern navy and is capable of deploying it outside of local waters. Unfortunately the news in English haven't stated which ships China is going to send. The People' Liberation Army Navy has quite a few modern ships to show off, including the two 1996 bought Sovremenny's and the two improved models of the same, bought in 2001. I'm hoping of course they send the destroyer Taizhou (it's the latter, an 956EM Sovremenny.) I wouldn't be surprised if the group of three ships being sent includes one of the newer domestic destroyers too.
The Chinese have said they will play nice, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao: "Chinese naval vessels will strictly follow U.N. Security Council resolutions and international laws. They are willing to work with other countries and to take part in humanitarian relief tasks." I'm not even joking when I say there's no reason to doubt this. The Chinese only showed interest in the operation after the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved of the action and the Chinese merchants have had pirate trouble.
Yes, to be honest I expected to see more cool warship pics in the news. If you share a bit of similar interest, here's a link to the news item and to the Sovremenny.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081220/wl_nm/us_somalia_piracy_china
http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ship/row/rus/956.htm
OP Out.
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They can't disclose everything about the ship or else the pirates will know all. So for the moment they have to keep it a secret but still letting the citizen informed.
ReplyDeleteTwo of Malaysia's ship was also hijacked recently but now rescued.
The ships were disclosed recently. One fleet support vessel and two domestically built destroyers, apparently the Luhai class. I even saw a spot of news showcasing refueling at sea and a helicopter landing on the destroyer deck.
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