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Lessons to learn from Libyan evacuation

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It is officially the largest overseas evacuation since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949.

A total of 35,860 Chinese nationals stranded in riot-torn Libya were rescued in a huge air, sea and land operation in about 10 days.

And for the first time, four military transport aircraft and a Chinese frigate were dispatched in a long-range overseas rescue mission.

For many, it is more than just a tale of a rising and increasingly confident power eager to project influence beyond its borders and defend its fast-expanding overseas interests.

'To put it short, the operation is a vivid display of China's national strength and its success has made many Chinese proud,' said Professor Zhuang Jianzhong , an international security expert from Shanghai Jiaotong University.

'And as a result, we've seen many firsts that occurred during the nation's largest government-led evacuation effort in the past six decades.'

China's deputy representative to the UN in Geneva, Wang Qun, hailed it as a vivid testament to Beijing's commitment to human rights.

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