What’s next for piracy? China has its own view

An interesting take on the perennial problem of piracy; analysing it through the prism of geopolitics. While attacks off the coast of Somalia have largely disappeared from the incident logs of recent years, China is building up a naval base in Djibouti, at the entry point of the Red Sea, from where it can ostensibly conduct anti-piracy measures, as well as extend a quasi-imperialist influence. It also explains why the Chinese were so reluctant to join the multinational anti-piracy efforts of a few years ago. “Established anti-piracy forces are not particularly attractive to China, as they are operated largely by those seen as rivals to China, and there is a fear that US led initiatives in particular would look to limit Chinese influence in wider matters.”