China warned Somali pirates yesterday it was prepared to use force when its navy ships arrive in the Gulf of Aden to combat a wave of piracy that has disrupted international shipping.
Two Chinese destroyers and a supply ship set sail on Friday — the first time in recent history that the country has deployed ships on a potential combat mission well beyond its territorial waters.
“[If] our naval vessels are ambushed by pirate ships we will resolutely fight back to protect our own safety,” Rear Admiral Xiao Xinnian (蕭新年) said in a briefing to reporters. “If the act of piracy is already under way and the pirates are already robbing other civilian vessels, we will suppress their acts, provided we have the capability and conditions to do so.”
Xiao, who also serves as navy deputy chief of staff, said the Chinese ships would mainly be charged with protecting the nation’s commercial vessels as well as the ships of international organizations such as the UN World Food Program.
About 100 ships — seven of them Chinese — have been attacked by Somali pirates since the beginning of the year. At least one Chinese vessel is believed to still be in the hands of the attackers.
The admiral said Chinese war ships would investigate any suspect pirate vessels and demand that they show their documents and certificates.
The ships would mainly stay in international waters, but could enter Somali territory if the situation warranted it, he added.
The UN Security Council last week gave nations a one-year mandate to act inside lawless Somalia to stop the rampant piracy in the Gulf of Aden, part of the Suez Canal route from Europe to Asia.
Some companies are now sailing their vessels around Africa, a longer and thus more expensive route, to avoid the increasingly brazen pirate attacks — including the seizure of a Saudi supertanker carrying 2 million barrels of oil.
Huang Xueping (黃雪平), a spokesman for China’s ministry of national defense, said China would cooperate with other nations fighting pirates under UN leadership.
“We maintain that the leading and coordinating role of the United Nations should be strengthened and relevant parties should earnestly abide by international law and the concerned UN Security Council resolutions,” he said.
Besides being equipped with guided missiles and artillery, the fleet of three Chinese ships will also carry two helicopters and a detail of special forces, Xiao said.
“This mission will demonstrate the resolve and the capability of the Chinese navy to deal with multiple security threats and diversified military tasks,” he said.
Ma Luping (馬魯平), director of China’s naval operations, said the flotilla was facing up to 30 organized groups of as many as 1,000 pirates.
China would also be willing to provide rescue and aid services to Taiwan-owned ships as long as they registered with the Chinese government, Ma said.
“Currently we do not see any insurmountable obstacles in patrolling these areas,” Ma said.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique