The Chinese Navy quickly went to Sudan to evacuate overseas Chinese, and netizens sighed: This is the realistic version of "Ten Thousand Miles Home"!

Source: Global Times

Recently, the security situation in Sudan has continued to deteriorate. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei announced in the early morning of the 27th that in order to protect the safety of Chinese personnel and property in Sudan, according to the unified deployment, the Chinese army sent naval ships to Sudan on April 26, Beijing time, to pick up and evacuate our personnel in the Soviet Union. According to the Global Times reporter, the forces undertaking the evacuation task were temporarily formed by the guided-missile destroyer Nanning and the integrated supply ship Weishanhu, which were carrying the 43rd batch of escort missions, carrying one carrier-based helicopter and more than 490 officers and men on the mission, including dozens of special combat personnel. Among the first batch of 678 evacuated with the ship, 668 were Chinese citizens and 10 were foreigners. At 3 p.m. Beijing time on the 27th, the first evacuees arrived at Jeddah Port, Saudi Arabia. A person who has carried out the evacuation mission told the Global Times reporter that this emergency evacuation mission in Sudan is not only the third overseas emergency evacuation mission of the Chinese Navy after the evacuation of Libya in 2011 and Yemen in 2015, but also the second time that the mainland has used warships to directly berth at foreign ports to carry out evacuation missions, showing the three characteristics of "three fasts", "three difficulties" and "three benefits". At the same time, this shows that the task of evacuating overseas Chinese by the Chinese Navy has become the new normal. For the evacuation of Chinese naval ships to Sudan, many netizens sighed: "This is the realistic version of "Ten Thousand Miles Home".

"Please rest assured, we are coming"

"Dear compatriots, everyone has worked hard! Please rest assured, we are here and everyone is safe! On the 27th, a live video of a Chinese warship going to Sudan to evacuate overseas Chinese was widely circulated on social media. In the video, the cordial greetings of the commander of the formation made the evacuees who had been rushing for days feel the long-lost tranquility. The crowd at the scene excitedly waved the five-star red flag in their hands and shouted "Long live the motherland!" Long live the Motherland! "Many compatriots who have just been evacuated from the war-torn zone shed tears of emotion.

According to the unified deployment, on April 26, local time, the Nanning ship and the Weishan Lake ship of the Chinese Navy urgently went to Port Sudan to carry out the task of transporting and evacuating our personnel in Sudan. This is the third time that the Chinese Navy has carried out an evacuation operation. According to the experience of the previous two evacuations of overseas Chinese, the ships of this mission were carried out by the 43rd batch of escort group ships of the Chinese Navy.

According to the Global Times reporter, after receiving the task, the 43rd escort group immediately adjusted the relevant force action plan, the Nanning ship and the Weishan Lake ship maneuvered to Port Sudan at high speed, and the Sanya ship continued to carry out escort tasks in the Gulf of Aden. After nearly a day and a night of continuous high-speed sailing, on the morning of the 26th, the Nanning ship and the Weishan Lake ship arrived in Port Sudan ahead of schedule. After docking, the officers and men accompanying the ship immediately carried out various preparations for the evacuation operation as planned, set up a safety warning area at the pier, set up areas for assembly, registration, security check, boarding and other areas, and the special combat team members of the ship were fully armed to guard the scene.

A person who has carried out the evacuation mission told the Global Times reporter, "Like the evacuation of Yemeni in 2015, both military operations faced dangerous environments, and there was war in the port countries where they berthed. However, compared with the last time, the ships on this mission need to enter the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to reach the port of Sudan, which is a longer distance and requires two or three days of sailing, which proves that this operation is fast in planning, preparation and action. The person mentioned that the operation had "three difficulties": sudden crises, many crises, and coordination difficulties. In the face of the deteriorating situation in Sudan, "the port of call of warships requires coordination between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and the Chinese Embassy in Sudan and the local area, which is difficult to imagine." At the same time, the evacuation of overseas Chinese has "three advantages": it is conducive to testing the Navy's ability to carry out non-war military operations, is conducive to accumulating experience of the Chinese Navy, further improving its military capability to carry out emergency tasks, and is also conducive to the Chinese Navy providing more and more public security products to the international community.

Stepping on a warship is like stepping on national soil

In the expectant eyes of the officers and soldiers, at about 16:40 local time on the 26th, the bus convoy carrying the first batch of evacuees with the ship arrived safely at the dock with the dust raised by dragging. Under the guidance of the staff of the Chinese Embassy in Sudan and the officers and men of the Navy, the personnel preparing to evacuate boarded the ship after registration and security checks at the pier, and the evacuation process was safe and orderly. After arriving at the port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the two warships completed the transfer of personnel, and again rushed to Port Sudan for follow-up transportation tasks.

Mr. Chen, an employee of a Chinese company in Sudan, arrived in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the 27th on board a Chinese warship. "Being in the midst of war and danger at any time, so I was really excited to see our warship," Mr. Chen told the Global Times.

Mr. Chen said that with the reasonable organization and arrangement of the embassy staff, the boarding and disembarking processes were safe and orderly, and everyone's food and lodging in Jeddah were also properly arranged. At present, Mr. Chen is awaiting further arrangements for his return to China.

In addition to the above-mentioned evacuees, with the help of the Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia, some Chinese citizens in Sudan were evacuated from Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, to Ethiopia in batches. Chinese citizens entered Ethiopia through the Mitema crossing and then transferred to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. It is said that the first batch of Chinese personnel evacuated through Ethiopia passed through the Ethiopian port and left for China in the early morning of the 26th local time. The Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia gave positive response and support in this evacuation operation.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning on the 27th, up to now, more than 1,300 Chinese citizens have been safely transferred, some have left Sudan on Chinese warships and ships, and some are on their way. "There are a small number of Chinese citizens outside Khartoum, and we are always concerned about their safety and will continue to do our best to help them."

Wu Xi, director general of the Consular Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, previously mentioned that compatriots safely evacuated from Sudan included residents of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. China is the country with the largest number of organized evacuees since the outbreak of the internal conflict in Sudan.

"Where the interests of the country go, the navy will reach the track"

It is worth noting that in this evacuation operation, China adhered to the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind and actively assisted foreign citizens to evacuate, so far, it has helped citizens of five countries to evacuate Sudan on Chinese ships, and other countries have offered China to assist in evacuating, and China will continue to assist as much as possible.

The reporter noted that among the 678 people evacuated from Sudan in the first batch of ships, including 10 foreigners. In 2015, Chinese ships carried 279 citizens from 15 countries, including Pakistan, Ethiopia, Singapore, Italy, Poland, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and Japan.

A person who participated in the task of evacuating overseas Chinese told the Global Times reporter on the 27th that this is another vivid practice of the Chinese military in practicing the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind and a community with a shared future for the sea. The person also analyzed that the reason why the warship chose to dock in the port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is because Sudan and Saudi Arabia are in the same Red Sea, the distance is closer, and Saudi Arabia's protection conditions are relatively better.

The above-mentioned person said that it can be seen from the three evacuation operations that the Chinese Navy is becoming more and more mature in dealing with the task of evacuating overseas Chinese, and the formation of ships carrying out the mission is also diversified. The person also mentioned that in 2011, Libyan evacuated overseas Chinese, the Chinese navy arrived in the Mediterranean Sea, escorting evacuees to the European country Greece. In 2015, three ships departed from Yemen in the Arabian Sea to carry evacuees to Djibouti in Africa and Oman in Asia, while the Sudanese evacuees arrived in Saudi Arabia in Asia with evacuees from the Red Sea. "This shows that China's friends are all over the world, and ships entering the territorial waters of sovereign states must obtain the consent of sovereign states, and can be approved in a short period of time, indicating that China has friendly relations with the port countries where ships docked in previous evacuation operations, and has received strong assistance from the other side."

"The motherland has always been a strong backing for overseas compatriots", under the photos and videos of the evacuation scene posted on the online platform, many netizens praised: "Where the interests of the country go, the navy's track will be reached." ”