‘Chinese Navy's Somali missions successful’

March 30, 2012, 16:15

http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/chinese-navy-s-somali-missions-successful_767214.html

United Nations: The Chinese Navy's escort missions in Somali waters have been "100 percent successful" since they started to dispatch escort warships to the Gulf of Aden and the Somali coastal area in January 2009, China's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Wang Min has said.


Min was speaking at the eleventh plenary meeting of the Contact Group on piracy off the coast of Somalia.

China has dispatched eleven batches of 28 warships for undertaking escort missions for 4,543 vessels in 431 batches by March 2012, Min said.

"The escort missions are 100 percent successful. We rescued 48 vessels which were attacked and chased by pirates, and escorted eight vessels which were released after abduction," a news agency quoted Min, as saying.

"These efforts have contributed to the safety and security of Chinese and foreign vessels passing through the Somali coastal area, as well as the shipping and navigation order in the region,” he added.

China has also cooperated with the European Union in escort missions for food-delivering ships of the UN World Food Program, Min added. Moreover, China successfully held an international escort seminar in Nanjing on February 23.

"China will continue to strengthen coordination and information sharing in military activities with the parties concerned on the basis of voluntary participation and consultation on an equal footing," Min said.

ANI