Photo taken on Dec. 25, 2008 shows the
Chinese Navy's supply ship Weishanhu in Sanya, capital of South China's
Hainan Province. The Chinese Navy's three-ship fleet awaiting sail to
waters off Somalia has finished its preparations for the overseas
deployment, the fleet commander said Thursday. (Xinhua
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
SANYA, Hainan, Dec. 26 (Xinhua)
-- The Chinese naval task force set sail at 1:50 p.m. Friday from a port here in
the southernmost island province of Hainan for Somalia. The ships will take part
in an escort mission against piracy.
The warships of the People's Liberation Army Navy, decorated with colored
ribbons and flowers, were cast off at the military port by crew members in white
naval uniforms who saluted the crowds seeing them off.
Two destroyers, DDG-169 Wuhan and DDG-171 Haikou, and the supply ship
Weishanhu from the South China Sea Fleet will cruise for about 10 days before
arriving in the Gulf of Aden, joining a multinational patrol in one of the
world's busiest sea lanes where piracy endangers international shipping.
The task force carries about 800 crew members, including 70 soldiers from
the Navy's special force. It's equipped with missiles, cannons and light
weapons.
"The expedition will show China's active attitude in maintaining the
world's peace and safety," Adm. Wu Shengli, commander of the Navy, told Xinhua
at a send-off ceremony before the flotilla departed.
"It could also embody the Navy's resolution and capacity to accomplish
diversified military missions to deal with multiple threats to national
security," the admiral said.
He said the expedition is the first occasion that China has deployed
warships far from its coastline to protect the nation's strategic interests and
also the first time it has implemented an international humanitarian mission
overseas, which will play an important role in peacekeeping in the region.
"All crew members have full confidence in their ability to fulfill the
escort mission," the task force's commander, Rear-Adm.Du Jingchen, said at the
ceremony.
The task force has many experienced crew members who have successfully
carried out other overseas missions. The current mission might, however, be a
long one that poses unforeseen challenges, said Du, who is chief of staff of the
Navy's South China Sea Fleet.
A ceremony is held before a Chinese
naval fleet sets sail from a port in Sanya city of China's southernmost
island province of Hainan on Dec. 26, 2008. The Chinese naval fleet
including two destroyers and a supply ship from the South China Sea Fleet
set off on Friday for waters off Somalia for an escort mission against
piracy.(Xinhua/Zha Chunming) Photo Gallery>>>
The task force will protect
Chinese vessels and crews, including those from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan,
that seek protection when passing through the area, as well as foreign ships on
request.
The first phase of the mission will last for three months and the Navy will
send fresh ships to relieve the task force at an appropriate time, depending on
the situation and the UN Security Council decision.
It will also help ships carrying humanitarian relief for international
organizations such as the UN World Food Program. The task force will not charge
escort service or protection fees to ships, whether foreign or domestic.
The task force will be ready to receive protection appeals on Jan. 6.
"We are supposed to encounter conflicts where we might have to fire on
pirates in those waters, but our primary target is not striking them but
dispersing them," said Du, speaking on board the destroyer Wuhan.
He said the task force has not been given specific instructions about the
Chinese fishing vessel Tian Yu 8, which is still held by pirates, since the
government has not given up negotiating with the pirates.
The destroyer Wuhan will serve as the flagship during the three-month
mission, according to 40-year-old captain Long Juan, who added that the crew had
conducted repeated drills especially targeted at fighting piracy.
For Wuhan's companion destroyer, Haikou, the voyage is a public debut. It
was commissioned in 2005. However, Capt. Zhou Fuquan said all crew members were
well-trained and confident in the mission.
The supply ship Weishanhu, China's biggest domestically made re-supply
ship, will provide logistic and medical support during the mission.
"The ship can supply the fleet with green vegetables and fresh fruits for
months," Capt. Xi Feijun said, adding that medical teams onboard can perform all
surgery, aside from brain procedures.
The three captains agreed that the unfamiliar water and weather off the
Somalia coast and the three-month mission might pose challenges, but they said
all crew were confident and honored to carry out the mission.
The Ministry of Defense officially announced the deployment on Tuesday,
saying that China would observe UN resolutions and international laws in
fulfilling its obligations.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said that 1,265 Chinese commercial
vessels had passed through the gulf so far this year and seven had been
attacked. The Tian Yu 8 and 18 crew members were still being held by pirates.
The International Maritime Bureau, based in London, said more than 109
ships had been attacked in the gulf this year and 14 ships are currently held
for ransom, including Saudi supertanker the Sirius Star and the Faina, a
Ukrainian cargo vessel carrying 32 tanks.
The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions calling on all
countries and regions to take part in patrolling the gulf and waters off Somalia
since June. The latest one authorized countries to "undertake all necessary
measures in Somalia, including in its airspace" to stop the pirates.
Photo taken on Dec. 26, 2008 shows a
Chinese naval ship in the port of Sanya City of China's southernmost
island province of Hainan. The Chinese naval fleet including two
destroyers and a supply ship from the South China Sea Fleet set off on
Friday for waters off Somalia for an escort mission against
piracy.(Xinhua/Zha Chunming)Photo
Gallery>>>
BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's navy is confident in
its task to patrol the seas off the Somali coast, a senior navy officer said
here on Tuesday.
Two missile destroyers and a support vessel will
leave Sanya in the southern Chinese island province of Hainan on Friday to join
the growing number of international warships fighting piracy off the east
African nation's coast.
"We don't have any insurmountable obstacles in
patrolling this area," Senior Col. Ma Luping, director of the navy operational
bureau under the Headquarters of the General Staff, told reporters.
Full story
A ceremony is held before a Chinese
naval fleet sets sail from a port in Sanya City of China's southernmost
island province of Hainan on Dec. 26, 2008. The Chinese naval fleet
including two destroyers and a supply ship from the South China Sea Fleet
set off on Friday for waters off Somalia for an escort mission against
piracy.(Xinhua/Zha Chunming) Photo
Gallery>>>
¡¡UNITED
NATIONS, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the president
of the UN Security Council, Neven Jurica ofCroatia, Monday both extended their
welcome to China's decision to dispatch Chinese naval ships for escorting
operations in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, saying the Chinese move is a
strong support for the global efforts to fight pirates there, a Chinese envoy
said here. Full story
BEIJING, Dec. 20
(Xinhua) -- China has announced that its naval deployment to the seas off
Somalia to fight pirates will be of three vessels.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao confirmed on
Saturday evening that the taskforce would consist of three vessels, and would
patrol the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia. Full story
