Chinese ships head to Somalia

Very strange to here about the Chinese navy heading out to do battle with the Pirates of Somalia !
But the more help there the better , even Japan is trying to get into the situation, Which is kinda significant because they have not been able to help out in situations that require them to actually do anything besides Non Combat ,Since WWII ! A Pacifist Country ! ready to fight back ! Just Crazy !

BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) - Three Chinese naval vessels left for Somalia on Friday to help tackle piracy in a sign of the country's rising global clout, and Japan said it may soon follow suit.

The destroyers Haikou and Wuhan, two of China's navy's most sophisticated warships, set sail from the southern resort island of Hainan along with a supply vessel, the official Xinhua news agency said. The three ships have about 800 crew, including 70 special operations troops, Xinhua said.

"We have made special preparations to deal with pirates, even though these waters are not familiar to us," it quoted mission commander Rear-Admiral Du Jingcheng as saying.

....

The crack forces are expected to give the fleet an edge in seeing off the pirates, with one of the soldiers able to "handle several enemies with (his) bare hands," Xinhua said.

"Our primary target is not striking them but dispelling them," Du said. "If the pirates make direct threats against the warships or the vessels we escort, the fleet will take counter measures."

A surge in attacks at sea this year in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia has pushed up insurance costs, brought the Somali gangs tens of millions of dollars in ransom and prompted foreign warships to the area.

Now Japan is considering sending its ships too, which could prove a legal and diplomatic headache for Tokyo, whose military activities overseas are tightly restricted by its post-World War Two pacifist constitution.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso ordered Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada to press ahead with talks on how the armed forces could act against the pirates, the government's top spokesman told reporters.

"He ordered the defense minister to speed up considerations so that we can act quickly," Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told reporters.