The PLA at Home and Abroad - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

CHAPTER 7
CHINESE SEA POWER IN ACTION:
THE COUNTERPIRACY MISSION IN THE GULF
OF ADEN AND BEYOND
Andrew S. Erickson*
The dramatic rise of piracy in the waters off of Somalia
in 2008, combined with United Nations Security
Council (UNSC) resolutions designed to empower
other nations to fight that piracy, presented the Chinese
with an historic opportunity to deploy a naval
force to the Gulf of Aden. This chapter offers an assessment
of the PLA Navy’s (PLAN) mission and its
implications. Emphasis is placed on the motivations
and preparations for the mission; relevant operational
details, including rules of engagement, equipment,
personnel, and logistic support; degree of coordination
with other militaries; domestic and international
responses to the mission; and indications of the PLA’s
own assessment of its achievements regarding the
deployment. The chapter then uses this case study
to probe broader implications for the PLAN’s role
in defending China’s expanding economic interests;
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* The views expressed here are solely those of the author and in no way represent
the official policies or estimates of the U.S. Navy or any other organization of
the U.S. Government. He thanks Daniel Alderman for his helpful research assistance;
James Lewis for sharing valuable research on replenishment; Nan Li for
suggesting sources and offering important guidance concerning organizational
and civil-military issues; William Murray for explanations of surface vessel capabilities;
and Bernard Cole, Gabriel Collins, Edward Fiorentino, M. Taylor Fravel,
Lyle Goldstein, Jesse Karotkin, Daniel Kostecka, David Polatty, Kathleen Walsh,
and Christopher Weuve for their useful comments on earlier versions of this
and related papers. It draws on previous work of the author’s, including that
copublished with Michael Chase, Lyle Goldstein, and Justin Mikolay. A preliminary
partial version of the present argument was published earlier as Andrew
Erickson and Justin Mikolay, “Welcome China to the Fight Against Pirates,” U.S.
Naval Institute Proceedings, Vol. 135, No. 3, March 2009, pp. 34-41.
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