Pirate Attacks Ship- 1 Dead

[Saleen411]

LIBREVILLE, Gabon -- Authorities searched Monday for four Chinese crew members who were taken hostage by pirates in speedboats off Gabon's capital over the weekend.

Government spokesman Edgard Anicet Mboumbou Miyakou confirmed Sunday that four vessels anchored in the bay off Libreville were targeted in the overnight attack. He said a Gabonese national, the commander of a vessel operated by the Satram company, was killed.

The four Chinese crew members taken hostage were working for the Sigapeche company, the spokesman said.

Security forces were searching for the attackers in collaboration with Interpol and sub-regional organizations, he said. Gabonese authorities were taking measures “to guarantee the safety of maritime traffic,” he said.

While attacks in the waters off Libreville are rare, piracy poses a growing threat in the Gulf of Guinea. The International Maritime Bureau says the Gulf of Guinea now accounts for about 82% of crew kidnappings in the world.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang on Monday told reporters the crew members' whereabouts remained unknown. He said the Chinese embassy has asked Gabonese authorities to “immediately launch rescue efforts to spare no effort to rescue the Chinese personnel. We will continue to follow closely."

[psk125]

Article in NYTimes today mentions US drawdown in Africa. Guess the Chinese are expanding their influence there and will take advantage of our absence.

[Discovery 15797]

Originally Posted by psk125

Article in NYTimes today mentions US drawdown in Africa. Guess the Chinese are expanding their influence there and will take advantage of our absence.

For everyone who is paying attention in geo-politics...China has been extending influence in Africa (and other areas esp. in SE Asia) since 2011.

China is Africa's biggest trading partner, and the vast majority of infrastructure projects are run by the 10,000 plus Chinese companies and more the 1 million Chinese currently living/working in Africa.

The Chinese are not expanding their influence via military involvement...but via commercial / economic involvement, and soon...humanitarian efforts.

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by Discovery 15797

For everyone who is paying attention in geo-politics...China has been extending influence in Africa (and other areas esp. in SE Asia) since 2011.

China is Africa's biggest trading partner, and the vast majority of infrastructure projects are run by the 10,000 plus Chinese companies and more the 1 million Chinese currently living/working in Africa.

The Chinese are not expanding their influence via military involvement...but via commercial / economic involvement, and soon...humanitarian efforts.

YES...China's massive Belt and Road Initiatives.....

"The Belt and Road Initiative is a global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 involving infrastructure development and investments in 152 countries and international organizations in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas."

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Saleen411

YES...China's massive Belt and Road Initiatives.....

"The Belt and Road Initiative is a global development strategy adopted by the Chinese government in 2013 involving infrastructure development and investments in 152 countries and international organizations in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and the Americas."

Which is essentially huge soft loans for infrastructure development to poor countries that the borrowers will not be able to pay back. (The work being done by Chinese companies using chinese labour and chinese materials ).


In 20-30 years time, the countries become heavily indebted to China.

[tarian]

Originally Posted by StuM

Which is essentially huge soft loans for infrastructure development to poor countries that the borrowers will not be able to pay back. (The work being done by Chinese companies using chinese labour and chinese materials ).


In 20-30 years time, the countries become heavily indebted to China.

And that is how you take over the World without firing a gun or invading another country, seems we in the West have been getting in wrong for many years , good luck to them

[Ardbeg]

I have worked in Libreville and all along the west coast of Africa. I strongly suspect that this is caused because the locals are pissed off at Chinese fishing boats which are all over the coast emptying the ocean of fish and starving out the locals. I have also heard of Chinese boats trying to kill local fisherman at sea. All you have to do is look at Live Ships Map -AIS for that coast and you will see it is all Chinese fishing boats and mother ships.

[taxwizz]

The Chinese will not take kindly, or mercifully to this.
Captured pirates will die.

[P3sailor]

China is a dangerous country and has been for years. They're quietly building up their military arsenal, slowly extending their territory in the South China Sea, stealing secret information from other countries, and in all likelihood are a key factor in supplying North Korea with materials and information in the develop of their nuclear program. The worlds only hope is that China's military will self-destruct, in short order, much like most of the products they provide the world with! Hopefully, the pirates will treat their hostages in the same manor the Chinese treat those who may be a threat to their policies.
I hate to say this but, President Trump is the only leader that has attempted to harness China, mainly with tariffs, but that has, for the most part, failed because the world cried foul because of the increased cost on both imports and exports. One way to kill the monster is to stop feeding it!!
My apologies for the rant but China has been a thorn in my side for years and it sickens me that the world population could care less!
Merry Christmas all!

[ferrailleur]

Originally Posted by Discovery 15797

For everyone who is paying attention in geo-politics...China has been extending influence in Africa (and other areas esp. in SE Asia) since 2011.

China is Africa's biggest trading partner, and the vast majority of infrastructure projects are run by the 10,000 plus Chinese companies and more the 1 million Chinese currently living/working in Africa.

The Chinese are not expanding their influence via military involvement...but via commercial / economic involvement, and soon...humanitarian efforts.

Where are the French and what's their influence after the debacle of their huge history of colonialism?

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by P3sailor

China is a dangerous country and has been for years. They're quietly building up their military arsenal, slowly extending their territory in the South China Sea, stealing secret information from other countries, and in all likelihood are a key factor in supplying North Korea with materials and information in the develop of their nuclear program. The worlds only hope is that China's military will self-destruct, in short order, much like most of the products they provide the world with! Hopefully, the pirates will treat their hostages in the same manor the Chinese treat those who may be a threat to their policies.
I hate to say this but, President Trump is the only leader that has attempted to harness China, mainly with tariffs, but that has, for the most part, failed because the world cried foul because of the increased cost on both imports and exports. One way to kill the monster is to stop feeding it!!
My apologies for the rant but China has been a thorn in my side for years and it sickens me that the world population could care less!
Merry Christmas all!

Cruising to a lot of third world countries it is pretty obvious to see the involvement of China in local infrastructure projects and industry, and the reduced involvement of the US and western countries. The US defense department is currently working on plans to remove troops from Africa.
The TPP trade agreement was designed to hem in China with a multination approach. Your man Trump killed it and tried going it alone. With not much success.

[mike carder]

Chinese not really doing anything new. I used to work at the UNDP and know for a fact that most US so called foreign aid was in the form of loans that not only had to be repaid but had to be spent on US products and use US contractors.

[Formosa46AK]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Cruising to a lot of third world countries it is pretty obvious to see the involvement of China in local infrastructure projects and industry, and the reduced involvement of the US and western countries. The US defense department is currently working on plans to remove troops from Africa.
The TPP trade agreement was designed to hem in China with a multination approach. Your man Trump killed it and tried going it alone. With not much success.

RE: "Your man Trump killed it." Even your woman, Elizabeth Warren, opposed it. See: https://www.quora.com/Why-did-so-man...oppose-the-TPP

From one source comes: "To my mind,not enough people oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement. It was cooked up in complete secrecy,and even Congress had limited access to it. The reason people are opposed to it is that it gives multi-national corporations the ability to control what laws/regulations governments can pass,including many in public interest,and sets up special tribunals staffed by corporate lawyers that bypass the regular court system. In short,it rigs the system in favour of big business to protect their profits. Senator Elizabeth Warren sums it up much better than I can in this short video:https://www.quora.com/Why-did-so-man...oppose-the-TPP

[Paul L]

Merry Xmas and Fair winds

[Eigenvector]

Originally Posted by StuM

Which is essentially huge soft loans for infrastructure development to poor countries that the borrowers will not be able to pay back. (The work being done by Chinese companies using chinese labour and chinese materials ).


In 20-30 years time, the countries become heavily indebted to China.

Good book on this.......



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confes...onomic_Hit_Man