China/Somalia

Historic anti-pirate mission sets sail for Africa

Article published on the 2008-12-26 Latest update 2008-12-29 10:50 TU

Xie Zengling, a co-leader of the special force on board of Chinese navy's DDG-171 Haikou destroyer
(Photo: Reuters)

An anti-pirate task force left Hainan island on Friday on the Chinese navy's first potential combat mission outside its waters for centuries. The three vessels will operate alongside other international warships near the Gulf of Aden, following a UN Security Council mandate issued last week, to operate inside and around Somalia.

"It's the first time we go abroad to protect our strategic interests armed with military force," said Chinese Navy chief Wu Shengli, in a ceremony to see off the approximately 1,000 sailors.

"It's the first time for us to organise a naval force on an international humanitarian mission and the first time for our navy to protect important shipping lanes far from our shores," the Xinhua news agency reported him as saying.

The Chinese navy has focussed on defending the country's coastal waters, only circumnavigating the globe for the first time in 2002.

Its last serious mission to Africa was under the 15th century Ming dynasty.

The three ships, the missile-armed destroyers DDG-171 Haikou and DDG-169 Wuhan and the Weishanhu supply ship, will protect Chinese and other vessels from attacks by pirates based in Somalia.

After three months they will be replaced by another flotilla, if the Security Council mandate persists.