Over the past week, a variety of news items and articles have surfaced touching on the presence of “six Chinese warships” in the Middle East. This was presented as an unprecedented event confronting the heightened US presence in the region, and as significant in the context of the ongoing war in Israel. All these statements are fundamentally incorrect.
In the last decade and a half, China has sent anti-piracy task forces to the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf. These forces are important for the security of civilian shipping lanes; they integrate into similar or greater activity by other international forces in the region, and are relatively limited in scope. A Chinese task force for such activity usually includes only three ships: a supply ship; a large missile-carrying destroyer (most recently model 052D); and a large frigate, also carrying missiles (most recently model 054A). Some of the ships likewise have helicopter landing capability.
In June 2023, naval escort task force number 44 arrived in our area; in mid-September, the 45th naval escort task force left China to replace the 44th, arriving in October. Just as in June, when Force 44 replaced 43, ships from two forces are now present in the area at the same time. And as was also customary in the past, following the replacement, the exiting force (now Force 44), after the end of the mission, continues for diplomatic visits in various ports in the region (in this case, Kuwait).
Therefore, the fact that there are now “six Chinese warships” in the Middle East is not unusual, is unrelated to the war against Hamas, and does not in any way confront the massive US forces sent to this area. Any attempt to present the situation in such an incorrect way serves propaganda that tries to create the false illusion of “balance” between the two superpowers, when in practice there is no connection between the two.
Over the past week, a variety of news items and articles have surfaced touching on the presence of “six Chinese warships” in the Middle East. This was presented as an unprecedented event confronting the heightened US presence in the region, and as significant in the context of the ongoing war in Israel. All these statements are fundamentally incorrect.
In the last decade and a half, China has sent anti-piracy task forces to the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and the Gulf. These forces are important for the security of civilian shipping lanes; they integrate into similar or greater activity by other international forces in the region, and are relatively limited in scope. A Chinese task force for such activity usually includes only three ships: a supply ship; a large missile-carrying destroyer (most recently model 052D); and a large frigate, also carrying missiles (most recently model 054A). Some of the ships likewise have helicopter landing capability.
In June 2023, naval escort task force number 44 arrived in our area; in mid-September, the 45th naval escort task force left China to replace the 44th, arriving in October. Just as in June, when Force 44 replaced 43, ships from two forces are now present in the area at the same time. And as was also customary in the past, following the replacement, the exiting force (now Force 44), after the end of the mission, continues for diplomatic visits in various ports in the region (in this case, Kuwait).
Therefore, the fact that there are now “six Chinese warships” in the Middle East is not unusual, is unrelated to the war against Hamas, and does not in any way confront the massive US forces sent to this area. Any attempt to present the situation in such an incorrect way serves propaganda that tries to create the false illusion of “balance” between the two superpowers, when in practice there is no connection between the two.