The Voice of America published on 2 February 2024 an article titled "Chinese Navy Escorting Commercial Cargo Ships in Red Sea" by John Xie.
The Chinese Navy recently began to escort Chinese cargo ships through the Red Sea. Sea Legend Shipping, a Qingdao-based company registered in Singapore, reports that five of its cargo ships have been escorted by Chinese naval vessels since January.
Asian News International (ANI) published on 3 February 2024 an article titled "After Flak over Lack of Action, Chinese Navy Starts Escorting Cargo Ships through Red Sea."
Drawing on the VOA story, ANI adds that the Indian Navy was quick to help a distressed merchant ship attacked by Houthi missiles in the Gulf of Aden while Chinese navy ships failed to respond to the distress call.
Comment: Three Djibouti-based PLA Navy (PLAN) ships--destroyer Urumqi, frigate Linyi, and supply ship Dongpinghu--have been in the vicinity since the Houthis initiated attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November. (See blog entries below for 23 January and 13 January). This is the first report that PLAN ships have engaged in efforts to protect international shipping, albeit only for Chinese-linked ships. There has been no known coordination between China's escort effort and the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian.
