In the Gulf of Aden region, the easternmost part of Africa, the Somali Peninsula has a long coastline of about 3,200 kilometers. Because of its geographical location, Somalia is also known as the "Horn of Africa".
Relying on Africa's longest coastline, Somalia is notorious for rampant piracy. They "eat the sea by the sea", attack foreign ships, plunder goods, take hostages and demand ransom.
However, among Somali pirates, there is an unwritten rule that "try not to rob the Chinese", and Somali pirates do the same, and Chinese merchant ships can basically sail freely in the Somali Peninsula without fear of being harassed by pirates.
So, why did the Somali pirates show mercy only to the Chinese merchant marines?Could it be that the pirates are afraid of the Chinese?
Unexpectedly, the Somali pirates replied like this: "The Chinese are kind to Somalia and cannot harm the benefactor." ”
Speaking of the origin of China and Somalia, we have to start with Zheng He's trip to the West in the Ming Dynasty.
On the outskirts of Brava, Somalia, there is a Chinese village, Zheng Hetun. The origin of the name of the village is derived from Zheng He's voyage to the West.
During the Yongle and Xuande periods of the Ming Dynasty, Zheng He, the eunuch of the Three Treasures, led a fleet to the Western Ocean seven times, reaching more than 30 countries and regions, and reaching as far as the African coastline, including the current Somalia.
Mogadishu, which is now the capital of Somalia. Zheng He led the fleet to arrive here three times, and when Zheng He went to the West, Mu Gu Dushu was still quite wealthy.
According to historical records, the people of the wooden and bone capital lived in affluence, living in four- and five-story houses built of stone. The women wore gold and silver and leather shoes. Although there is no rain all year round, people here dig wells for water. The well-to-do people transported goods by steamship, and the ordinary people made a living by fishing in the sea.
At that time, in addition to the crew and businessmen, there were also some ordinary people who traveled with Zheng He, and after they arrived in Somalia, some of them saw that it was relatively wealthy, so they took the initiative to choose to stay and live, and some happened to be sick and chose to settle here after being in the local area.
Many of the Chinese remaining in Somalia have intermarried with the locals. Later, the population grew more and more, and a village was formed, which they named "Zhenghe Village".
In Zhenghe Village, the tradition of speaking Chinese has been preserved, and there are many cultural relics preserved by Zheng He when he went to the West, which are all witnesses of history.
After Zheng He led the fleet to Mugu Dushu, Mugu Dushu also arranged for the fleet to go to China, and also presented zebras and lions to the Ming court, and was given friendly hospitality.
Merchants from Mukudushu shipped large quantities of ceramics, silk, calligraphy and paintings back to Somalia, and the spread of Chinese civilization was maximized. The excavation of many artifacts from the Ming Dynasty in Somalia is a strong testimony to the close ties and harmonious relations between the two countries at that time.
Among the Somali pirates, there are also villagers from Zheng He Village, who share the same ancestor and have a natural sense of kinship, so these pirates never attack Chinese merchant ships. At the same time, they also told other pirates not to rob Chinese merchant ships.
However, not all pirates did not plunder Chinese merchant ships.
In March 2012, the Taiwanese fishing boat Naham3, carrying a crew of 29, was hijacked by Somali pirates, including 10 Chinese crew members.
The fishing boat was hijacked for four and a half years. During this time, the captain was shot dead and two other crew members died of illness during the abduction and remained in Somalia forever.
During the hijacking, in order to prevent the hostages from escaping, the pirates did not give them shoes to wear. The hostages were arranged to sleep in a rudimentary shed, with only two meals a day and a bowl of water. Hungry, the hostages had to catch rats to eat.
Among the Chinese crew members who were hijacked, Leng Wenbing, a Chinese sailor, once took the opportunity to escape, walked for more than ten hours, smeared his feet with blood blisters, and was finally captured by pirates.
In order to retrieve the hostages, China** and Somali pirates have negotiated several times, and the United Nations, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, and the "No Thieves at Sea" charity have also actively participated in the rescue.
During the negotiations, Somali pirates were capricious and always reversed at the last minute, resulting in negotiations having to be repeated.
Following the rescue of the hostages of the fishing vessel Naham3, Somali piracy has decreased considerably, from more than 170 per year to about 10 in 2015. Moreover, since 2012, Somali pirates have not succeeded in attacking cargo ships.
The decrease in the raiding activities of Somali pirates has a lot to do with China's vigorous assistance and support for Somalia.
** once said: "Somalia is a good brother of China, and it is the African brother who brought China into the United Nations." "Why do you say that?
Somalia has twice submitted proposals to the UN General Assembly in support of the restoration of China's legitimate seat. In addition, after independence, Somalia was the first East African country to establish diplomatic relations with China.
For a long time, China and Somalia have maintained friendly and cooperative diplomatic relations. Somalia supports the one-China principle, and relying on its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has always firmly upheld Somalia's legitimate and legitimate rights and interests.
Moreover, China has not only built hospitals and railways for Somalia, but has also donated money, materials and food to Somalia, and has also carried out long-term cooperation in oil and natural gas.
In Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, Banadir Hospital is the largest maternity and child hospital in Somalia, which China helped Somalia build in 1976. The hospital has more than 300 medical staff, and approximately more than 3,000 patients come to the hospital every week**.
In addition to hospitals, China has also assisted Somalia in building landmark buildings such as the National Centre for the Performing Arts and stadiums. The Somali people are very grateful to China and regard the Chinese people as good friends.
When the civil war broke out in Somalia and the disastrous weather of drought and flood, China never stood idly by, and always reached out to help the Somali people out of poverty and distress at the first time.
In order to cultivate knowledge-based and scientific and technological talents for Somalia, China** also provides scholarships to young Somali students, so that these students can study with peace of mind.
In addition, China has assisted Somalia by donating money to international organizations. For example, China** donated US$2 million to the United Nations Children** to solve the problem of feeding Somali children.
In 2007, after the defeat of the armed forces in Somalia, Somalia actively prepared for the reconstruction of the country, and its chief hope to receive assistance from all countries in the world. China** responded positively by providing 20 million yuan in free assistance to Somalia.
At the same time, it also gave preferential measures of duty-free tariff exemption for some Somali products exported to China, and donated two cars to the Somali Embassy in Kenya.
In order to further protect the lives and health of the Somali people, China** was the first country to provide free vaccines to Somalia and donated 700,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Somalia.
In 2022, Somalia experienced extreme drought and a food crisis, with nearly half of the population experiencing famine and facing nutritional insecurity.
As a result, at the UN Security Council, China called on all countries in the world to provide assistance to Somalia, and also suggested that the International Monetary Organization and the World Bank provide assistance and debt relief to Somalia to help Somalia tide over the difficulties as soon as possible.
In the face of the frequent piracy activities in Somalia, Somalia also wants to deal with it, but Somalia is very poor, not only does it not have its own navy, but the coast guard is also very backward in equipment, the ships are dilapidated, and the sailing speed is poor, so it is impossible to catch up with the pirate ships.
Somalia** urgently needs the assistance of all countries in the world to control the situation, combat terrorist forces and maintain regional stability.
In order to help Somalia govern and maintain harmony in the Gulf of Aden, China has made every effort to help. Since 2008, the Chinese Navy has been arranged to carry out escort missions to Somalia.
As of May 2022, the Chinese Navy has arranged 1,500 escort missions, with more than 30,000 navies and nearly 100 ships participating in anti-piracy operations and protecting the safety of more than 7,000 cargo ships.
Hello, this is the Chinese Navy escort formation, if you need help, please call me on channel 16. This recording of Chinese and English alternately** has been circulating in the waters of the Gulf of Aden** to protect the safety of ships coming and going.
In addition to the Chinese Navy, Britain, the United States, France, Russia and other countries have also dispatched navies to escort ships in Somali waters, but Somali pirates are still repeatedly banned.
Due to the power of the navies of various countries, Somali pirates do not dare to haunt the coastal waters, but the sea areas far from the land are still not peaceful, and from time to time there are still cases of merchant ships being plundered by pirates.
You may not believe that in Somalia, companies engaged in piracy have publicly raised funds and set up an organization similar to an exchange. After the pirates plundered the property, the profits were distributed according to the number of shares of each investor.
Once, a Somali woman who had lost her husband invested several rockets in a pirate company with a market value of about $1,500. Unexpectedly, in less than 40 days, she made a profit of 7$50,000. It can be seen that the returns on this investment are considerable and directly reflect the frequency and rampant level of Somali piracy.
Somali pirates often disguised themselves as fishermen, dressed in fishermen's attire and driving several small boats, constantly searching for prey in the open sea. When encountering undefended and unprotected ships, the pirates took out the ** hidden in advance to carry out the robbery.
Somali pirates commit robberies, usually only to loot goods and demand ransom, so in general, they do not harm hostages.
In the face of merchant ships and fishing boats from various countries, Somali pirates love South Korean ships alone. Because the ransom of South Korea is more, the pirates will earn more.
In 2006, Somali pirates intercepted the South Korean fishing vessel Dongwon 628 and took people hostage. After four months of multiple negotiations, the Somali pirates were finally awarded a ransom of $800,000.
In 2010, the Samho Dream, also a South Korean merchant ship, was detained by Somali pirates for nine months. Also through several negotiations, South Korea** paid the pirates nearly $10 million before bringing back the people on board.
In order to protect the property of passing ships and the personal safety of their crews, countries around the world have sent their navies to escort their merchant ships in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations Security Council. Once encountering pirates, the navies of various countries will naturally show no mercy.
According to the provisions of international law, when encountering pirates, unless the pirate shoots first, they can only be expelled and not killed directly. Even if pirates are caught later, they can only be handed over to Somalia** for disposal.
However, Russia, a fighting nation, has never been soft on Somali pirates. When Somali pirates loot Russian ships, the escorting Russian** will directly respond to the battle, even at the expense of heavy **. Therefore, whenever they encounter a Russian ship, the Somali pirates have only one fate - the boat is destroyed and killed.
In December 2021, the United Nations Security Council called on countries to use planes, guns, etc. to combat Somali piracy. At the same time, it also called on Somalia* to strengthen maritime patrols to prevent piracy.
Somali piracy has gradually decreased, but it has not disappeared completely, and there are still occasional cases of plundering of ships in the waters far from land.
There are many pirates in Somalia, which has a lot to do with Somalia's historical development and economic backwardness.
Before independence in 1960, Somalia was under colonial rule by Britain and Italy for a long time, and its economy was backward and its people were struggling to make a living. After the establishment of the Somali Republic, the Somali people still did not live a long time of peace, with warlords in the country chaotic and civil wars continuous.
In this precarious situation, Somalia's economy has collapsed, unemployment is very high, and more than half of the population is below the poverty line.
Because of its geographical location, Somalia is a necessary place for ships from all over the world to enter and leave the Suez Canal. The unique geographical advantages have facilitated the formation and development of Somali pirates. In order to make a living, many poor Somali people, including many refugees, have become pirates.
In Somalia, a fisherman earns only $5 a day, but a pirate can earn between $30,000 and $7 for a pirate's involvement in looting$70,000 in dividends. If you are the first pirate to board a foreign ship, you will be rewarded with an additional $10,000.
In contrast, they loot the cargo of passing ships, take hostages and demand high ransoms, and then buy houses and land, buy high-end cars, eat, drink and have fun, and live a prosperous life. This kind of ** has made more Somali poor people take risks to become pirates.
In order to help and support Somalia, China and Somalia have always maintained bilateral cooperation relations. In 2021, the total amount between China and Somalia was as high as 101.1 billion US dollars, of which China's exports are 1 billion US dollars.
At present, terrorist attacks still exist in Somalia, wars are frequent, and internal security and stability remain the top priority, so the international community should help Somalia recover and rebuild as soon as possible, restore industry, agriculture and handicrafts, and allow pirates to return to normal life.
Through its actions against Somali piracy, the Chinese Navy has not only protected the safety of Chinese merchant ships, but also protected the fleets of other countries and maintained stability in the Gulf of Aden. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China has played the responsibility and responsibility of a major country, which is the embodiment of China's efforts to safeguard world peace.