Navy protects ships from pirates

World cooperation

China's business and energy interests in the busy shipping lanes of the Gulf of Aden demand the ongoing presence of its navy, said Zhai Dequan, deputy secretary-general of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

But Somalia's 3,300-km coastline, the longest coastline in Africa and the Middle East, makes anti-piracy efforts difficult to solve overnight.

Political instability and poverty in war-torn Somalia continue to drive fishermen to become pirates and storm commercial vessels for ransom.

Last year, Somali piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the northwestern Indian Ocean netted $160 million, said the One Earth Future foundation in the United States.

China has called upon the international community to be more responsive by providing more financing and technical assistance for anti-piracy efforts, China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Wang Min said on Nov 19.

Currently, around 20 international warships are patrolling Somali waters, Xinhua reported.

However, since many countries do not send escort forces due to a combination of limited interests and huge costs, China shoulders responsibility for foreign vessels based on growing national strength and a friendly policy, said Zhai.

About half of the vessels escorted by the Chinese navy have been foreign ones, including four from the World Food Programme.

Most of these vessels were carrying items closely related to people's daily lives, including oil, food and chemical fertilizer, said the China Marine Search and Rescue Center.

China has coordinated its anti-piracy efforts with other parties and will continue do so. It was authorized by the UN in November to extend its escort duties by one more year, said Yang Yujun, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense on Thursday.

"Such international cooperation and exchanges also help the rest of the world to know more about China and accept it," said Zhai.

The political commissar of the 11th escort fleet, Xia Kewei, recalled when the fleet visited Romania in August, the Romanians continually asked them about their escort experience.

Romania was going to send its first fleet to join a NATO escort mission at the time.

"Although each country contributes to anti-piracy efforts for its own reasons and in its own ways, all of us share the same goal: driving pirates away and safeguarding transportation", he said.

Mi Jinguo contributed to this story.

Contact the writer at zhaoshengnan@chinadaily.com.cn