Evacuation from Sudan: how China’s years of African conflict experience led to successful mission

Observers say Djibouti military base and lessons from Libya, Yemen and Ethiopia contributed to the operation

More than 1,300 Chinese nationals were evacuated on Thursday in an operation that included two PLA Navy vessels

Reading Time:3 minutes

Chinese nationals were evacuated from Sudan with the help of two PLA Navy vessels. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 5:00pm, 28 Apr 2023Updated: 6:15pm, 28 Apr 2023

China’s successful evacuation of more than 1,300 of its nationals from Sudan this week is a sign of its growing expeditionary capabilities, reinforced by past experience, observers said.

This is the third time China has used navy ships to evacuate civilians from a worsening security situation, with the first batch of 678 people arriving at the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah on Thursday, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Conditions on the journey out of Khartoum were tough, with busloads of evacuees criss-crossing a bumpy and harrowing 1,000km (620-mile) journey through the desert to Egypt.

Others endured an arduous 850km (530-mile) drive to Port Sudan on the Red Sea, where they were picked up by Chinese naval vessels.

Observers said China appeared to be developing a doctrine for civilian evacuations, using local forces – often with the help of Chinese or locally based security contractors – and rented transport options to move people to safety.

Paul Nantulya, a China-Africa expert at the Africa Centre for Strategic Studies at Washington’s National Defence University, said China’s plan also involved maintaining open and active lines of communication with all warring sides during the operation.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x