Opinion Setting sail

It is also the first time that a Chinese vessel has been sent to conduct operations in the Mediterranean Sea. At the end of 2008,the PLAN launched its first naval deployment far from its homeland to counter piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Six naval task forces have done their tour of duty in the Gulf of Aden since then. Xuzhou has been part of the seventh mission that has been in the Arabian Sea since last November,when it was ordered a few days ago to sail into the Libyan waters. The objective of Xuzhou,a 4,000-tonne frigate that carries surface-to-surface missiles and a helicopter,is not to transport Chinese citizens from Libya. It is about providing military support to relief operations.

“The frigate will help secure the process of evacuation through the ocean and provide coordination services for boats that China chartered from Greece,” said Yin Zhou,a rear admiral and senior researcher at the PLA Navy Equipment Research Centre. Xuzhou’s deployment,Admiral Yin added,“Sets an excellent example of the Chinese navy upholding the nation’s interests overseas,and highlights the navy’s participation in a national emergency response mechanism for the protection of overseas citizens.” Analysts who monitor China’s naval developments say,“Safeguarding the evacuation of PRC citizens provides a positive and peaceful rationale for logistically useful operations that also provide advantageous military training opportunities.”

With China bringing home most of its citizens in Libya — it evacuated nearly 36,000 of them by Wednesday night — it will be interesting to see how long the Xuzhou deployment in the Libyan waters might last.

Up in the air

China’s military action in Libya also saw the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) pitching in. This is the first time the Chinese air force has undertaken operations abroad.

Four Chinese IL-76 military transporters successfully evacuated over 1,700 Chinese nationals from Libya to Khartoum in Sudan as of Wednesday night,according to media reports. Observers of Chinese military modernisation say this is the longest-range mission that the PLAAF has ever undertaken. The first aircraft left Urumqi in the far western Xinjiang province on Monday and flew over 9,500 km to arrive in Libya late Tuesday night. Chinese media reports did not say where the aircraft had halted on their way for refuelling. The

IL-76 is said to have a range of about 6,500 km with a light load.

Observers of Chinese military say the air evacuation of even a limited number of Chinese citizens could add to the prestige of the PLAAF and “offers an opportunity to gain additional training and experience in conducting expeditionary air operations”.

As China’s economic interdependence with the rest of the world grows,it now has massive amounts of foreign investment locked up (its projects in Libya alone are worth $18 billion) and is said to have nearly five million citizens working abroad (up 40 per cent since 2005). The need to protect these investments and people necessarily means that China must be capable of projecting its military power.

Looking at Libya

If the PLA is eager to acquire the capability to operate from its national territory,its diplomats are not yet ready to formally discard the notion of “non-intervention” that has been central to Beijing’s foreign policy. There has been some speculation that China’s support for the recent expulsion of Libya from the United Nations Human Rights Council might be a departure in its policy.

Chinese diplomats in New York were quick to counter such an interpretation. They explained that China joined the consensus in the UN General Assembly’s resolution on Libya,“in view of the extremely exceptional situation now in Libya and concerns and views expressed by Arab and African countries”.

“At the same time,” they added,“the Chinese delegation holds that the UNGA’s suspension of Libya’s rights of membership in the Human Rights Council does not constitute a precedent.” China obviously does not want to stick out as the lone supporter of Gaddafi at this juncture. Yet,it does not want to set a precedent for the possible future condemnation of China’s own possible crackdown on domestic dissent.

This little diplomatic play in New York,however,pales in comparison to two important new realities: one,the unprecedented expansion of China’s global interests and the other,China’s political will and military capability to defend them with the use of force if necessary.