Xinhua: “Chinese naval escort squads to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters have completed 409 missions and escorted 4,411 Chinese and foreign vessels over the past three years.
To date, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has sent 10 batches of escort fleets with 25 vessels, 22 helicopters and more than 8,400 officers and soldiers to this area, Wu Shengli, commander of the PLA Navy, said at a forum on the escort missions held Wednesday.
The fleets have rescued 40 ships from pirates’ pursuits, taken care of eight vessels that were attacked and released by the pirates, and offered humanitarian aid to foreign vessels four times, Wu said.
The fleets also escorted four ships delivering humanitarian supplies for the World Food Programme and provided adequate protection to the ships and the crewmembers, Wu said.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-01/11/c_131355296.htm
China has been a strong contributor to UN forces, mainly in infantry terms. Now it is contributing its share in naval terms. Slowly, but surely, China is taking up its role as the world’s number 2 power.
Only in one area it will stand back, and that is in not interfering in internal affairs or ‘regime change’, despite criticisms from around the world – such as wrt to Syria, Iran, North Korea and Zimbabwe. It wants the world to respect its internal affairs such as Tibet and Xinjiang ; so it practices what it preaches.
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 