Chinese General Advocates Attacks on Somali Mainland

Watching on Youtube on how the Russians deal with Somali pirates... boy, I thought if China did that it would explode all in a negative way for China. This idea is even taking it way beyond that. You know China wouldn't do this alone and even with that I'd be surprised if that happened given how some are alarmed that China is gaining experience with just escorting missions. Yeah why not go after their ships. It's not like Somalia has a ship-building industry to replace lost vessels. What do the Europeans do? I've seen them disarm and let the pirates go. Why not if they find weapons and no fish... destroy the ship.

AssassinsMace said:

Yeah why not go after their ships. It's not like Somalia has a ship-building industry to replace lost vessels. What do the Europeans do? I've seen them disarm and let the pirates go. Why not if they find weapons and no fish... destroy the ship.

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Most of those boats can and are built locally, by very small shops. So they can replace lost vessels. Even if they cannot, people with guns can always take what they want from people without guns, and the pirates will just take boats off of honest fishermen if you destroy theirs.

In addition, if you destroy a pirate's boat, you cannot very well just leave them floating in the sea. You would have a responsibility for them, and no European nation wants a load of Somali pirates taking up space in their own overcrowded prisons.

Hell, the idea that the Europeans will arrest you and take you back with them might actually cause a massive surge in 'piracy', with the bulk of the new 'pirates' rushing to surrender to the Europeans and Americans so they can be whisked away to the US or EU, where they could apply for asylum and probably get them.

Plenty of people risk and pay far more and endure far worse than a few years in prison just to get to the US and EU.

Well if they do operate with motherships, put them in their boats with a barrel of fuel and then destroy their ship. Unless I have my information wrong, I thought that Somalia essentially is a country with no real government. If fishing is a way of life, I would have to believe they just use smaller boats and not commercial ships they would need to get out that far out to sea to commit piracy.

plawolf said:

In addition, if you destroy a pirate's boat, you cannot very well just leave them floating in the sea. You would have a responsibility for them, and no European nation wants a load of Somali pirates taking up space in their own overcrowded prisons.

Hell, the idea that the Europeans will arrest you and take you back with them might actually cause a massive surge in 'piracy', with the bulk of the new 'pirates' rushing to surrender to the Europeans and Americans so they can be whisked away to the US or EU, where they could apply for asylum and probably get them.

Plenty of people risk and pay far more and endure far worse than a few years in prison just to get to the US and EU.

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Hahahaha, wolfie you made my day.

I am start to think that, if China wants to get out of the mud pool the diplomat.com (and any other far reaching worldwide loudspeakers)is currently setting up - the better way is CCTV starts to sweet talk about how good and kind would it be, the US, EU, under the "change of policy" of China's fully support - can make a difference on Somali soil. While China's "fully support" depends on not-to-mention-lucrative political bargain.

Say, an "Eight sides conference" like N.K. issues and / or current Syria tensions? I bet China knows how to held a conference if anything.

Somalia is a somewhat difficult problem, especially if you are not interested in solving that problem. The only organisations worthy of the name are the Muslims of Al Shabab in the South of the country, the semi-autonomous areas Punt land and Somali land in the North and the several warlord enterprises. In the mean time the pirates operate from North of Mogadishu, even it seems from Somali land and they are financed by and provide profit for enterpreneurs that seem mostly to live in Kenya. There is no evidence of the pirates financing Al Shabah except for news manufactured by the US.
Without outside opposition the Muslims would form a government that could be influenced by diplomatic representatives in Mogadishu. They would certainly stamp on the pirates as the Muslim courts did before them. But a Muslim government is unacceptable to the US and the CIA now attacks people in the South with UAVs and they also hired most or even all warlords.
I suppose General Chen made his remark to let the world get used to Chinese bases in Africa or other places in ten or twenty years time, not to prepare for an invasion of Somalia next year.