也門撤僑彰顯中國海軍實力

Yemen Evacuation Shows Chinese Navy’s Growing Role

也門撤僑彰顯中國海軍實力

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，中國用戰(zhàn)艦從沖突不斷的也門撤離了近600名公民，這顯示出北京從危險地區(qū)撤員的能力日漸增強。

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.”

中國駐也門大使田琦周一晚上對官方通訊社新華社表示，只有少量中國人留守也門。他稱此次行動是“中國特色大國外交的重要實踐”。撤離行動中，需要通過公路，艱難地將人員從也門首都薩那運送至荷臺達港。

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.

盡管在規(guī)模上遠小于2011年從利比亞撤離大約3.58萬名中國公民的行動，但也門的撤離行動動用了兩艘中國海軍護衛(wèi)艦，隨行的還有一艘海軍補給艦。它們?？吭谝查T港口，接走了中國的撤離人員。在利比亞，穆阿邁爾·卡扎菲(Muammar el-Qaddafi)被推翻后，中國主要依靠租來的游輪和貨輪，只有一艘海軍艦艇監(jiān)督撤離行動。田琦對新華社表示，周日下午，首批122名中國工人在也門主要港口城市亞丁港登上了一艘護衛(wèi)艦。他說，第二批449名中國公民周一在也門西海岸的荷臺達港登上了另一艘護衛(wèi)艦。兩艘船都將穿越亞丁灣，駛向吉布提。這些人員將從那里搭乘航班返回中國。

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.

位于羅德島州紐波特的美國海軍戰(zhàn)爭學院(United States Naval War College)副教授萊爾·戈爾茨坦(Lyle Goldstein)表示，撤離行動會在中國國內收獲良好反響。“關注這次行動的人可能在中國政界里，”戈爾茨坦說。“中國人要求政府在海外更有力地保護中國公民，這種訴求已經變得非常普遍。因此在也門的這次行動中，能輕松地派出兩艘護衛(wèi)艦去‘顯示實力’，卻沒有引來多大的風險，也沒有在某種程度上挑戰(zhàn)軍事行動的極限。”中國海軍正在迅速擴張，戈爾茨坦表示，其支持者也會為此次行動感到高興。“此次危機對于中國崇尚海軍的人群是有利的，他們越來越大聲地呼吁，中國擁有一支在全世界各個海洋開展常規(guī)行動的海軍，對保護這個海上貿易大國的利益至關重要，”他說。

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.”

中國網友表達了對該行動的支持。中國微博平臺新浪微博的一名用戶寫道：“祖國實力的強大不在于免簽多少國家，而在于危險的時候能把你帶回家。”

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

另一則評論寫道，“如果國家實力不雄厚，這種事情想都不敢想。”

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.

這兩艘驅逐艦是從索馬里的任務中調遣來的。中國自2008年以來，一直在那里參與打擊海盜的國際行動。戈爾茨坦說，鑒于中國海軍對非洲之角和附近的也門水域比較熟悉，這次撤離可能是一項比較容易的任務。

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.

也門政府淪陷時被困該國的中國工人稱，局勢的惡化非常迅速。許多中國人在那里從事石油開采的工作，還有一些人從事建筑業(yè)和漁業(yè)。也門為中國輸送石油，但不是主要的供應國。

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.

伊朗支持的什葉派胡塞民兵組織推翻也門政府時，中國醫(yī)務工作者楊士勇就在也門國內。他說，沙特阿拉伯領導的空襲發(fā)動時，民兵組織還擊的炮火讓他嚇了一跳。他說，胡塞武裝在他的醫(yī)療團隊位于薩那的房子附近，部署了地對空武器。

“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.”

“來到也門后我還是第一次看見這么猛烈的炮火，”楊士勇對新華社說。“外面的防空炮火像一條條火蛇，持續(xù)了幾個小時。”