China acquires the right to take the lead in anti-piracy coordination

(BRUSSELS2) At the end of a meeting held on Thursday in New York within the contact group on the "fight against piracy off Somalia", an agreement was reached between the different partners in the fight against piracy. For months, China has wanted to see its role better recognized by Westerners in particular. China had thus proposed to provide for cooperation on the basis of areas of responsibility; device that the EU, NATO and the CMF did not want, proposing instead coordination rules in the internationally recommended transit corridor (IRTC - Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor). Suffice to say that there was a deep disagreement.

It actually took several rounds of negotiation, in Bahrain and within the contact group in New York, to find a compromise that preserves the two positions: areas of responsibility and coordination. The Chinese who are ready to send more boats to the area also wanted to see their leadership role recognized. It should be done: the Chinese take their turn in the lead of the coordination of SHADE (*). Proof that the discussions were difficult, the press release published on Friday by the Chinese Ministry of Defense is in the most "wooden tongue" style: « China has taken an open and positive attitude on international cooperation for escorting ships and intends to cooperate with countries and organizations within the framework of UN Security Council resolutions for peace and stability in the waters of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden is it thus written (source: China New Xinhua agency).

(*) the SHADE system (Shared Awareness and Deconfliction) brings together the main fleet commanders present in the area
to coordinate the fight anti-piracy