Chinese frigate arrives off Libyan coast, first time for a warship in the Med, ever
2011-04-06
This is a big deal, historically. China, in all of its 5000 years of history, has NEVER had a warship in the Mediterranean. Obviously the Chinese people are going ape about this. They're immensely proud at throwing their weight around, even a little bit. The Med is Europe's area. The 1840s Opium War happened yesterday, as far as many Chinese are concerned.
The frigate was on anti-piracy patrol off Somalia (which is as far as Zheng He got) when the Libya crisis happened. Went through the Suez Canal, another first as far as I know.