France and China Talk... Somalia

France has essentially taken over on the international diplomatic front in regards to Somalia, and we can add this bit of news to the developing discussion regarding the international approach to dealing with piracy.

The French navy and its Chinese counterpart are discussing ways to strengthen intelligence exchange to combat piracy off the coast of Africa, a senior French naval officer said on Monday.

"We will see if we can do something together, especially in the waters off Somalia, where many Chinese fishing boats travel to," Vice Admiral Gerard Valin, who is also commander of French joint forces in the Indian Ocean, told AFP.

We are not really sure what kind of intelligence assets China brings to the table off the coast of Somalia, but this is an interesting development nonetheless. We still don't believe the Europeans and Americans can bring piracy to a halt regionally without either getting more aggressive, or bringing in new partners to build a larger international coalition.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is still looking for a naval escort for their food shipments starting June 25th, when the Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen (F 805) is set to leave the region. With only 9 days before then, it would be difficult for many nations to get involved in time. With all the rhetoric from Russia it is unclear why they decided not to step up, but perhaps this is a more appropriate role for the PLAN in the region?