EU NAVFOR’s Operation Commander, Major General Charlie Stickland, met Senior Captain Liang Yang, Commanding Officer of the Chinese PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Support Base in Djibouti, onboard EU NAVFOR’s new flagship, the ESPS Castilla on Mon 6 August 2018. There they held discussions on how to continue and improve the ongoing counter-piracy efforts off the coast of Somalia.

Periodic meetings such as this help to strengthen relations between the EU NAVFOR and our Chinese military counter-parts, given that both forces are providing essential maritime security to this critical international trade route. It is by working together that more can be achieved in deterring acts of piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Aden.

Like EU NAVFOR, the Chinese naval forces conduct counter-piracy operations in order to protect vulnerable shipping. They also provide occasional escorts to World Food Programme humanitarian shipping when EU NAVFOR is not in a position to do so itself.  This level of cooperation and collaboration bears witness to the strong operational relationship enjoyed between EU and Chinese naval forces in the Gulf of Aden.