posted
A few days ago there was a pirate attack on a Chinese ship by pirates near Somalia, one of six on Chinese ships in total.
quote: Nine pirates boarded the Zhenhua 4 on Wednesday but were forced off the ship by Capt Peng Weiyuan and his crew after they mounted an unexpected fightback.
Helicopters from a multi-national force also took part in the four hour battle, which saw the pirates back down.
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"Seven pirates got on our ship and two remained on the speedboat. The seven that got on were very threatening," he said.
But instead of surrendering, the crew retreated to their living quarters, which overlook the deck.
"We had a lot of beer bottles and we made a lot of cocktail [petrol] bombs," said Capt Peng. "We were well prepared. We threw them at them.
"After the first attack they retreated but somehow they got very good weapons - anti-tank weapons - which they fired at us, and succeeded in coming up to our living quarters.
"They came to the first platform which is very close to our living quarters.
"We were locked inside and the door was very thick. They were shouting 'open the door'. So we climbed further up and we used everything to threaten them, bottles, petrol.
"Eventually we used high-pressure water cannon to shoot at them. They were also shooting at us and one bullet passed me about 10in (25cm) away.
"Eventually they retreated, they couldn't fight any more. There was smoke, there was fire."
quote:On Thursday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told journalists that preparations to dispatch naval vessels were under way.
BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus says it will be the Chinese navy's first active deployment beyond the Pacific Ocean.
Of course, this is not technically true, as some other foreign commentators are noting, this is merely China's first foreign navy deployment since the 15th century.
quote: The announcement today that China will dispatch its navy to defend against pirates of the Somali coast is a big one. It marks the first time that China has committed itself to taking part in what a Chinese naval officer called a multi-lateral "battle task."
That harkens back to Zheng He, the Ming Dynasty court eunuch who commanded a fleet of vessels that crossed the Indian Ocean and made it to the coast of East Africa (and maybe beyond). Zheng He's fleet consisted of giant nine-masted junks, supply ships, water tankers, patrol boats, and more than 27,000 sailors and soldiers. The largest of the junks was over 400 feet long and 150 feet wide -- more than twice the size of Spanish or Portuguese vessels of that time. Zheng, who sailed the seas almost a century before Christopher Columbus found the Americas, brought back boatloads of goodies from his voyages, including a giraffe that apparently spooked the emperor. After several voyages, however, China's blue water navy days were over -- a casualty of conservative forces within the Forbidden City that saw no reason for China to engage in foreign adventures.
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China's contribution to the multi-lateral task force will be more modest than Zheng He's crew: two destroyers and a depot ship will debark from the big PLA naval base on Sanya Island after Christmas.
In recognition of this historic 600 year occasion, I'll raise a mug of tea to my mainland compatriots from middle of Canada's "snow-mageddon" (the government's actual words) and applaud them. It makes me somewhat proud to see the first deployment of the Chinese navy in 600 years is in co-operation with the international community.
On a secondary note, I would add that we are only one country away from getting genuine Pirates vs. Ninjas, although we may get pirates vs. Shaolin monks
quote: I would add that we are only one coutnry away from getting genuine Pirates vs. Ninjas
I would add that the age old question is finally answered. Ninjas would definitely win. I mean if regular crewman can thwart pirates with beer bottles and a water cannon, just think what a ninja could do with stealth, poison, an indestructible sword, and lasers!!!
Posts: 2445 | Registered: Oct 2004
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posted
My Indian friends and relatives have been proud (but not exactly comfortable about the feeling) that India has been taking such an active role in squashing the pirates. It's difficult to talk about such things with them, given the American military elephant in the room (we could squash them all, are responsible for a lot of peacekeeping in the world, but then there's Iraq and Afghanistan...).
Posts: 2409 | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Now if only the Chinese navy could also send out another Zhang He. A prominent muslim Chinese eunuch can only once again get people talking about how diverse China is with snobs like me replying that we already knew it was so.
Here's to bureaucrats not pulling the plug on yet another potentially awesome navy.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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