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SCMP Reporter

China has won approval to lead the co-ordination of international anti-piracy patrols off Somalia - an unprecedented expansion of its historic deployment of warships to the Indian Ocean.
 The effort will also see China send its warships to permanently patrol a sector of the special transit corridor through the most dangerous part of the Gulf of Aden. The pledge means that China needs to send more than the three ships it keeps deployed off the Horn of Africa  to protect vital trade routes linking Asia to Europe.
 PLA Navy officials reached agreement last week over its expanded role with major international navies at a meeting of the so-called Shade grouping in Bahrain, officials at the meeting said.
Shade, or Shared Awareness and Deconfliction, has been jointly headed by European Union forces and the US-led Combined Maritime Forces.  
More than two years old, Shade meets monthly to maximise co-ordination and communication among the 40-odd navies now protecting shipping off the Horn of Africa.
While some nations operate as part of international flotillas under the banner of Nato, the EU or the CMF, some operate independently, including China, India, Russia, Malaysia and Iran.
Currently only Nato, EU and CMF ships patrol inside the corridor.
By committing to provide an 'enduring' presence in the corridor, China will be eligible to lead as part of a new rotating chairmanship, which will  switch every three to four months. It is expected to take charge by the middle of the year.
 The move is expected to force India and Russia to seek  a greater role, as they try to match a growing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean.
 Captain Chris Chambers, director of operations for the CMF, confirmed China's new role yesterday at a shipping conference in Singapore.
 'There has been major progress in communication and co-operation with navies that once didn't really speak to each other,'  Chambers, a US naval officer, said. 'China will get a chance to chair the Shade ... it is a very positive development.
 'It will open the door for other independent nations to come in.'
 Other officials at last week's Bahrain meeting said the PLA was reporting back to Beijing for political approval before a formal announcement could be made.
 Both Western and Asian naval officials are backing the move, knowing they are struggling to deal with a worsening piracy situation off Somalia, a failed state where pirates operate with no fear of law enforcement or other government intervention.
 While the Gulf of Aden situation has eased under naval pressure, pirates are now attacking ships off Somalia's east coast, travelling more than 1,000 nautical miles into the Indian Ocean to seize ships, putting a wider range of shipping at risk. 'It is getting desperate and there is no solution in sight,' one foreign naval official said. 'Anything China can do to offer more practical help will be taken up at this point. This deal is a straight win-win.'
 While helping to tackle a worsening international crisis, fighting piracy allows China to quietly develop an Indian Ocean presence - something military analysts believe could be highly strategic to its ambitions to create a navy with wide  global reach. 
 Typically, hijacked ships are taken to pirate lairs on Somalia's east coast. The ship and crew are kept under armed guard but are generally unharmed until the owners can arrange a ransom, which now range between US$2 million and US$7 million. 
 China began pushing for a broader role after the hijacking in October of mainland bulk carrier the De Xin Hai. The ship, steaming to India with a load of South African coal when it was captured northeast of the Seychelles islands, was released late last month after the payment of US$3.5 million in cash.
 The De Xin Hai was the first mainland ship to be captured since Beijing's historic deployment of warships to the area in December 2008.
 That deployment marked the first time the Chinese navy had ventured into potential conflict beyond its home waters in centuries.
 The PLA warships never attempted to attack or intercept the pirates, with PLA officials later insisting they were too far away at the time.
 The warships - two destroyers and an armed supply ship - run regular escorts from convoys of ships registered in Hong Kong, Taiwan and on the mainland. Ships of other nations can join the Chinese convoys.
 When not involved with convoys, the Chinese vessels have also assisted other international efforts. China's convoys sail near the transit corridor, keep in contact with it but have not been part of it. Now it has agreed to keep a single ship in the corridor for a month at a time, China will be assigned a 60 nautical mile stretch of ocean to permanently patrol.
Chinese officials have repeatedly suggested that individual countries should be given set areas of ocean to take responsibility for - a concept already in operation inside the corridor.
Calming the waters
China has been handed the rotating leadership of the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (Shade) meetings and tasked with patrolling part of the International Recommended Transit Corridor in the Gulf of Aden
About Shade
Meetings attended by Nato, Russia, China, India and other participating nations
Conducts deterrence and surveillance of pirate activity
Provides warnings to commercial vessels of potential pirate locations
Provides transit plans for commercial shipping
Boards suspected pirate vessels
Source: NATO



China to lead anti-piracy patrols