Chinese ship rescues Yemen foreigners
Print Edition
A CHINESE naval frigate has evacuated 225 foreign citizens from strife-torn Yemen, its foreign ministry said, marking the first time China’s military has helped other countries evacuate their people during an international crisis.
Ten different nationalities were among the evacuees picked up on Thursday afternoon from Aden, Yemen’s second city, and transported to Djibouti, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on its website.
It said foreign governments — Pakistan, Ethiopia, Singapore, Italy, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Britain, Canada and Yemen — had requested China’s help.
A diplomatic source familiar with the operation said it was “very risky” and that fighting had come close to the Chinese warship.
“The Chinese ship was in the right place at the right time,” the source said.
Violence has been spreading across Yemen since last year, when Iran-backed Shiite Houthi fighters seized the capital, Sanaa, and effectively removed President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. A Saudi-led coalition has hit the rebels with airstrikes over the past week.
A China Central Television report yesterday showed evacuees, who were mostly Pakistani, arriving in Djibouti.
“We are really thankful to the Chinese government, who really helped us, and took us out with the school children,” one woman told CCTV.
CCTV showed footage of young children stepping off a Chinese warship waving Chinese flags.
China earlier evacuated 571 of its own nationals, along with eight foreigners who worked for Chinese companies.
“China has been keen to learn from the experience of other countries on how to evacuate people, especially after Libya,” said one senior Western diplomat in Beijing.
“It’s good to see China taking more of an interest in this.”
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