也门撤侨彰显中国海军实力

Yemen Evacuation Shows Chinese Navy’s Growing Role

也门撤侨彰显中国海军实力

China evacuated nearly 600 of its citizens from conflict-torn Yemen this week in Chinese warships, in a demonstration of Beijing’s increasing ability to extract its people from dangerous places.

本周，中国用战舰从冲突不断的也门撤离了近600名公民，这显示出北京从危险地区撤员的能力日渐增强。

Only a few Chinese remain in the country, the Chinese ambassador to Yemen, Tian Qi, told Xinhua, the state news agency, on Monday night. He described the operation, which included harrowing road trips from the capital, Sana, to the port of Al Hudaydah, as “a significant practice of major power diplomacy with Chinese characteristics.”

中国驻也门大使田琦周一晚上对官方通讯社新华社表示，只有少量中国人留守也门。他称此次行动是“中国特色大国外交的重要实践”。撤离行动中，需要通过公路，艰难地将人员从也门首都萨那运送至荷台达港。

Although the Yemen effort was on a much smaller scale than the evacuation of about 35,800 Chinese workers from Libya in 2011, it involved two Chinese Navy frigates, accompanied by a navy supply vessel, docking at ports in Yemen and carrying the Chinese evacuees away. In Libya, after the overthrow of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, China largely relied on rented cruise ships and cargo vessels, with one navy vessel overseeing the operation. The first group of 122 Chinese workers boarded a frigate in Aden, the major port city of Yemen, on Sunday afternoon, Mr. Tian told Xinhua. A second group of 449 Chinese boarded another frigate in Al Hudaydah, on Yemen’s west coast, on Monday, he said. Both ships headed across the Gulf of Aden for Djibouti, and from there, the workers were being flown to China.

尽管在规模上远小于2011年从利比亚撤离大约3.58万名中国公民的行动，但也门的撤离行动动用了两艘中国海军护卫舰，随行的还有一艘海军补给舰。它们停靠在也门港口，接走了中国的撤离人员。在利比亚，穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲(Muammar el-Qaddafi)被推翻后，中国主要依靠租来的游轮和货轮，只有一艘海军舰艇监督撤离行动。田琦对新华社表示，周日下午，首批122名中国工人在也门主要港口城市亚丁港登上了一艘护卫舰。他说，第二批449名中国公民周一在也门西海岸的荷台达港登上了另一艘护卫舰。两艘船都将穿越亚丁湾，驶向吉布提。这些人员将从那里搭乘航班返回中国。

The evacuation operation would play well in China, said Lyle Goldstein, associate professor at the United States Naval War College in Newport, R.I. “The audience is likely Chinese domestic politics,” Mr. Goldstein said. “It has become very common for Chinese to demand that Chinese nationals be protected abroad more forcefully by the government. Thus, in the Yemen case, two frigates can easily be dispatched to ‘show the flag,’ but without incurring major risks or somehow pushing the operational envelope.”Champions of the fast-expanding Chinese Navy would also be pleased, Mr. Goldstein said. “The crisis may be somewhat useful to the growing chorus of Chinese ‘navalists,’ who will argue that having a Chinese Navy that operates routinely on all the world’s oceans is critical to protecting the interests of this maritime trade juggernaut,” he said.

位于罗德岛州纽波特的美国海军战争学院(United States Naval War College)副教授莱尔·戈尔茨坦(Lyle Goldstein)表示，撤离行动会在中国国内收获良好反响。“关注这次行动的人可能在中国政界里，”戈尔茨坦说。“中国人要求政府在海外更有力地保护中国公民，这种诉求已经变得非常普遍。因此在也门的这次行动中，能轻松地派出两艘护卫舰去‘显示实力’，却没有引来多大的风险，也没有在某种程度上挑战军事行动的极限。”中国海军正在迅速扩张，戈尔茨坦表示，其支持者也会为此次行动感到高兴。“此次危机对于中国崇尚海军的人群是有利的，他们越来越大声地呼吁，中国拥有一支在全世界各个海洋开展常规行动的海军，对保护这个海上贸易大国的利益至关重要，”他说。

Chinese online comments expressed support for the operation. One commenter on Sina Weibo, the Chinese microblogging platform, wrote: “The strength of the motherland is not about the visa-free agreements with other countries, but that it could bring you home from danger.”

中国网友表达了对该行动的支持。中国微博平台新浪微博的一名用户写道：“祖国实力的强大不在于免签多少国家，而在于危险的时候能把你带回家。”

Another wrote: “You can’t even imagine things like this if the country is not strong enough.”

另一则评论写道，“如果国家实力不雄厚，这种事情想都不敢想。”

The two frigates were diverted from duties off Somalia, where China has been participating in international antipiracy operations since 2008. Given the Chinese Navy’s familiarity with the waters around the Horn of Africa and nearby Yemen, the evacuation was likely to have been a relatively easy task, Mr. Goldstein said.

这两艘驱逐舰是从索马里的任务中调遣来的。中国自2008年以来，一直在那里参与打击海盗的国际行动。戈尔茨坦说，鉴于中国海军对非洲之角和附近的也门水域比较熟悉，这次撤离可能是一项比较容易的任务。

The Chinese workers trapped in Yemen as the government collapsed said conditions had deteriorated rapidly. Many of the Chinese were involved in oil exploration, others in construction and fishing. Yemen provides oil to China but is not a major supplier.

也门政府沦陷时被困该国的中国工人称，局势的恶化非常迅速。许多中国人在那里从事石油开采的工作，还有一些人从事建筑业和渔业。也门为中国输送石油，但不是主要的供应国。

A Chinese medical worker, Yang Shiyong, who was in Yemen when a Shiite Houthi militia backed by Iran toppled the government, said he was startled by the strength of the militia’s firepower against airstrikes led by Saudi Arabia. The Houthis deployed surface-to-air weapons near the house in Sana where his medical team stayed, he said.

伊朗支持的什叶派胡塞民兵组织推翻也门政府时，中国医务工作者杨士勇就在也门国内。他说，沙特阿拉伯领导的空袭发动时，民兵组织还击的炮火让他吓了一跳。他说，胡塞武装在他的医疗团队位于萨那的房子附近，部署了地对空武器。

“It was the first time since I came to Yemen that I saw such intensive artillery fire,” Mr. Yang told Xinhua. “The antiaircraft fire out there looked like some flaming snakes, that went on for hours.”

“来到也门后我还是第一次看见这么猛烈的炮火，”杨士勇对新华社说。“外面的防空炮火像一条条火蛇，持续了几个小时。”