Piracy off the waters of Somalia is at a decade high, testing Beijing’s role as other naval powers focus elsewhere
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenJevans NyabiagePublished: 10:00pm, 19 Sep 2026For more than a decade, China has deployed warships to the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia.For much of that time, piracy in the region has been in sharp decline. Now, however, with attacks at their highest reported level since 2013 and other naval forces engaged in crises elsewhere, Beijing’s long-running escort mission is being tested.
“There is a palpable reduction in risk for those choosing to undertake piracy,” said Timothy Walker, a senior researcher in transnational threats and organised crime at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria.
