On Friday, two destroyers and a supply vessel departed on China’s first long-range naval expedition since 1433. The decision to join the global armada in the pirate-plagued waters off Somalia is a momentous step in China’s rise as a world power.
It is also a precious chance for others – especially the United States and India – to build maritime security cooperation with China before Beijing forms any risky habit of solo military forays.
By Rory Medcalf
International Herald Tribune
China has long been a free rider on the ocean highways. It has enjoyed the benefits of maritime trade and energy routes, so vital to its economic boom, while other countries’ navies have kept them open.
Yet with growing wealth, pride and ambition come expectations that Beijing will contribute to the safety of an interdependent world. It was only a matter of time before China, along with the other awakening giant India, joined the club of maritime security providers, using their fleets simultaneously for self-interest and the common good, whether fighting piracy, interdicting smuggling or delivering disaster relief.
That day was hastened when the sea-brigands of Somalia caught Chinese vessels, cargoes and sailors in the net of their brazen raids. Press photos of Chinese mariners squatting at gunpoint on their hijacked trawler provided an incentive that was hard to resist. New Delhi’s idea that the Indian Ocean was India’s Ocean, plus its assertive policing, was another.
Related:
China Warships Depart on Anti-Piracy Mission Near Somalia
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/opinion/edmedcalf.php
