First of all, you can see this article
UNITED NATIONS — China has agreed to cooperate with a coalition of naval forces combating rampant piracy off the coast of Somalia, a top Norwegian official said here Thursday.
Norwegian foreign ministry official Carl Salicath made the announcement on the first anniversary of the establishment of the so-called Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS).
He said China and a coalition of multinational forces -- including from NATO, the European Union and the US-led Combined Maritime Forces -- engaged in anti-piracy operations off Somalia "have agreed on a mode of cooperation."
"The Chinese delegate heralded this as a very important step forward. I absolutely agree with him. This will make the patrolling more efficient," Salicath, who chairs the CGPCS, added.
The Norwegian diplomat expressed hope that other nations with naval forces in the area would follow China's lead in cooperating with the multinational anti-piracy naval coalition.
Late last month, a top Chinese naval official proposed setting up a permanent base to support ships on an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden, raising the idea that China could build foreign bases elsewhere.
In an interview posted on the Chinese defense ministry website, Yin Zhuo -- an admiral and senior researcher at the navy's Equipment Research Center -- said such a base would bolster China's long-term participation in the operation.
Yin's proposal came after a Chinese cargo ship and its crew of 25 were rescued from Somali pirates, following the payment of a 3.5-million-dollar ransom to their kidnappers.
China has sent four flotillas to the region since the end of 2008.
The CGPCS brings together Australia, Belgium, Britain, China, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, The Netherlands, Norway, Oman, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, the United States, Yemen, the African Union, the European Union, the International Maritime Organization, NATO and the Arab League.
About 130 delegates several countries and organizations attended Thursday's CGPCS meeting.
"We think that we have achieved a lot during that year but of course there is a lot to do in the years to come," Salicath said.
He said a major achievement was that the vast majority of vessels plying the dangerous waters off Somalia were now following so-called "best management practices" put forward by the group last August.
These include:
= minimizing external communications to essential safety- and security-related communication;
= Increasing lookouts/bridge manning; securing and controling access to the bridge, engine room, steering gear room, and all accommodation /internal spaces;
= Making sure that all ladders and outboard equipment are stowed or up on deck and using dummies at the rails to simulate additional lookouts and creating a water curtain around the vessel to further deter boarding.
= Considering using razor wire/physical barriers around stern/lowest points of access, commensurate with crew safety and escape.
= Providing night vision optics for use during the hours of darkness and using light, alarm bells and crew activity to alert suspected pirates that they have been detected.
Captain Paul Chivers, chief of staff of the EU naval operation code-named Atalanta off Somalia told reporters that although "the number of (pirate) attacks has gone up considerably in the Somali basin, the number of successful attacks has gone down."
Meanwhile UN Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe, in remarks delivered to the meeting, said that despite a decline in the rate of successful pirate attacks, "piracy continues to expand further out to sea, at times more than 1,000 nautical miles from the coast of Somalia."
"These developments highlight the limits of an exclusively sea-based approach and emphasize the need for the international community to continue to deal with the issue of piracy in a comprehensive, cohesive and broad-based approach'," Pascoe added.
Xinhui posted an article from SCMP that had the following:
China has won approval to lead the co-ordination of international anti-piracy patrols off Somalia - an unprecedented expansion of its historic deployment of warships to the Indian Ocean.
The effort will also see China send its warships to permanently patrol a sector of the special transit corridor through the most dangerous part of the Gulf of Aden. The pledge means that China needs to send more than the three ships it keeps deployed off the Horn of Africa to protect vital trade routes linking Asia to Europe.
PLA Navy officials reached agreement last week over its expanded role with major international navies at a meeting of the so-called Shade grouping in Bahrain, officials at the meeting said.
Shade, or Shared Awareness and Deconfliction, has been jointly headed by European Union forces and the US-led Combined Maritime Forces.
More than two years old, Shade meets monthly to maximise co-ordination and communication among the 40-odd navies now protecting shipping off the Horn of Africa.
While some nations operate as part of international flotillas under the banner of Nato, the EU or the CMF, some operate independently, including China, India, Russia, Malaysia and Iran.
Currently only Nato, EU and CMF ships patrol inside the corridor.
I think this is partly due to China's growing confidence in patrolling and also cooperating with Western navies, partly due to the recently pirated ship that cost $3.5 million for release and partly due to China's desire to be seen in a more constructive role. My read is that PLAN was simply not comfortable in operating with Western navies in the beginnings, because it did not want to loose face in front of the more experienced navies of the world. Now that it had some time to work with other countries, it is less afraid of getting embarrassed. Recently, we saw a third 054A deployed to Gulf of Aden to join the 3 ship flotilla (consisting of 2 054A and a replenishment ship) already there. This is clearly part of PLAN's move to assume more responsibility in the region. I personally think this is a great thing. It really is about time that China starts to pull its weight in multi-lateral cooperative efforts around the world. Some people would view this as a growing China threat to US naval dominance. That will happen regardless. China will expand and modernize its navy in order to protect its rapidly growing economy and political status. How can it be a bad thing to see it really contributing to a multi-national effort and being a "responsible stakeholder"?
Of course, what this means is that China will have to keep building those 054As to be sending them here. The 3rd pair of 054As (569 and 571) just recently joined service and I'm sure they will be sent here pretty soon. The 4th pair probably will also join service by the end of the year. You are probably looking at a rotation of 1 051B (167), 2 054 (525,526), 8 054A, 1 071 (998) + replenishment ships. If we consider 3 flotilla rotation (each pulling 4 months per year), then they'd be able to maintain 4 frigates + a replenishment there at any given time. That would also be enough of a commitment for China to join SHADE.
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