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Global Insights: Chinese Navy Becomes Global Security Player
Used with the permission of World Politics Review, www.worldpoliticsreview.com.
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Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:49:00 +0000 |
(World Politics Review) -- For the first time in modern history, the Chinese navy is deploying a task force on an active maritime mission beyond the Pacific Ocean that could involve combat operations. Beijing's unprecedented decision to join the anti-piracy fleet off Somalia's coast resulted from a pragmatic assessment of the likely net security benefits to China from the deployment. The international community, including the United States, should likewise approach the issue from a hardheaded perspective.
On Dec. 26, 2008, two destroyers and a supply ship of the South China Sea Fleet departed from the Yalong Bay naval base at Sanya, on Hainan Island, scheduled to arrive in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia on Jan. 6. The task force's declared mission is to inspect suspected pirate ships, assist vessels that come under pirate assault, and defend themselves if threatened. The anticipated duration of the initial deployment is three months, but any Chinese ship that withdraws could be replaced by another.
The task force, led by Rear Adm. Du Jingchen, chief of staff of the Navy's South China Sea Fleet, totals approximately 800 crew members. The destroyers carry the standard armaments of cannons and missiles. The flotilla also includes two helicopters that will provide aerial surveillance of potential threats, assist with delivering supplies among the ships, and engage in maritime search and rescue operations. The helicopters will also support the mission of the 70 Special Forces personnel aboard the destroyers, who have trained to board and inspect vessels and, if necessary, engage any pirates they encounter. The Special Forces unit is equipped only with light infantry weapons, and does not plan to engage in sustained ground operations.
The decision to deploy off Somalia represents a new phase for the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), which has traditionally concentrated on defending Chinese coastal waters and impeding U.S. military intervention in the event of a conflict scenario involving Taiwan. Although the PLAN has engaged in port visits and unsophisticated exercises with foreign navies, the current mission represents the first potential combat operation for the fleet outside of the Pacific.
Even so, the decision to join the anti-pirate campaign is consistent with China's emergence, during the past two decades, as one of the leading troop contributors to international peacekeeping operations. Although Chinese peacekeeping forces are not operating in Somalia, they are currently deployed in other African countries, as well as in other conflict-prone regions. Moreover, the Chinese government has become increasingly supportive of humanitarian operations, even those requiring the use of force.
In this regard, the naval deployment reflects a pragmatic assessment of this specific operation, rather than a revolutionary transformation in how Beijing defines its appropriate international security role. From Beijing's vantage point, the conditions of the deployment, although not without risks, appear to be unusually favorable, entailing low probable costs and many likely benefits for China.
Among the justifications for the deployment, Beijing can cite a clear need to provide security for Chinese nationals in the Gulf of Aden. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao, of the 1,265 Chinese commercial vessels that traversed the gulf this year, seven have been attacked. One, the Tian Yu 8 with 18 crew members, remains under pirate control. The contested waters lay athwart the Suez Canal route as well as a major shipping zone for crude oil from the Persian Gulf, of particular interest to Beijing because more than half of its imported oil originates from the Middle East. The commander of the PLAN task force, Rear Adm. Du Jingcheng, highlighted as much when he stated that his ships will "protect and escort Chinese ships carrying strategic cargos, such as crude oil."
Further facilitating Chinese intervention, since June 2008, the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) has adopted four resolutions supporting measures to curb piracy in the region around Somalia. Earlier this month, the council gave members a one-year mandate to extend these operations within Somali territory, if necessary. In addition, the internationally recognized government of Somalia has supported the U.N.'s action, and its explicit invitation for foreign intervention to curtail piracy and other lawlessness means that Chinese leaders can participate in the military operations off Somalia's coast without compromising their longstanding adherence to the doctrine of non-interference in other countries' affairs.
The Chinese can also point to the presence of many other foreign navies in the region, all engaged in the same counterpiracy escort missions endorsed by the U.N. and the Somali government. The European Union has launched its first active maritime operation in the region, and warships from Russia, India and even Iran are now escorting merchant ships in the Gulf.
In addition to the main stated objective of protecting shipping, the Chinese government stands to realize other benefits from the deployment. For example, the mission showcases China's growing military capabilities to domestic and foreign audiences. At the ceremony marking the flotilla's departure from Sanya, Wu Shengli, commander of the Chinese Navy, emphasized both these points: "The expedition will show China's active attitude in maintaining the world's peace and safety. It could also embody the Navy's resolution and capacity to accomplish diversified military missions to deal with multiple threats to national security."
The deployment might also provide the PLAN with opportunities to improve its tactics, techniques and procedures in a relatively safe environment, as part of a coalition that includes several more experienced navies. Furthermore, the deployment helps justify China's continuing defense buildup, which other governments -- citing the lack of a military threat to China -- have criticized. Beijing can claim that its growing military power, including its acquisition of a blue-water navy, is intended to address common security challenges as China assumes the role of a responsible global stakeholder.
China's Somali operation does entail some modest risks. The mission will prove logistically challenging since the PLAN does not possess bases in the region, meaning that its lines of communication and supply will probably extend all the way back to China. Another concern is that Chinese or civilian casualties during the operation might discourage further Chinese military forays into distant seas, at least for a while.
Perhaps the greatest danger is that the deployment might alarm some of China's neighbors. Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam have long-standing maritime disputes with China. The Taiwanese must also worry about the PLAN's growing power projection capacity, since the Taiwan Strait is the island's main natural barrier against Chinese invasion.
From the perspective of the United States, China's newfound naval activism offers its own challenges and opportunities. One challenge will be operational. The American and Chinese navies have yet to demonstrate that they can cooperate effectively on a common mission that, as in this case, could potentially involve the use of force. Their past exercises have been fairly unsophisticated.
If the mission succeeds, moreover, it could reinforce domestic pressure within China for even greater increases in maritime projection capabilities (e.g., acquiring an aircraft carrier), to defend Chinese nationals and interests in even more distant waters.
Yet, working in partnership for months with foreign navies will inevitably deepen mutual understanding. Perhaps for this reason, Lt. Nathan Christensen, a spokesman for the U.S. Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain, stated that the maritime coalition operating in the Gulf of Aden would welcome a Chinese operational contribution.
Richard Weitz is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and a World Politics Review senior editor. His weekly WPR column, Global Insights, appears every Tuesday.
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