12/16/2014: Chinese Harbin Z-9E helicopter practices landing aboard the U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104).

Sterett and ships from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (Navy) PLA(N) commenced a bilateral counter-piracy exercise, U.S.-China Counter-Piracy Exercise 15, in the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa.

Aiming to promote partnership, strength and presence, the exercise includes combined visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) operations, communication exchanges, and various other aspects of naval operations.

Credit: Navy Media Content Services:12/12/14

According to a story by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Travis Alston and Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Eric Coffer published on 12/12/14:

GULF OF ADEN (NNS) — The U.S. Navy’s guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) and ships from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (Navy) PLA(N) commenced a bilateral counter-piracy exercise, U.S.-China Counter-Piracy Exercise 15, in the Gulf of Aden and the Horn of Africa, Dec 11.

Aiming to promote partnership, strength and presence, the exercise includes combined visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) operations, communication exchanges, and various other aspects of naval operations.

This exercise represents a long-standing united front toward counter-piracy operations shared by these two world powers.

“The exercise allows us to address our common regional and global interest,” said Capt. Doug Stuffle, commander, U.S. Navy Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 1. “It helps both nations pursue a healthy, stable, reliable and continuous bilateral relationship.”

Approximately 700 personnel from the U.S. and China navies will participate in the exercise, and it gives Sterett Sailors the opportunity to engage in a shared mission with other surface platforms.

“Piracy is a long-standing problem, worldwide,” said Cmdr. Theodore Nunamaker, Sterett commanding officer. “It has long been recognized as a problem that requires an international-cooperative solution. Certainly the U.S. 5th Fleet AOR [area of responsibility] is one of the focused points for that effort. Modern-day piracy has a far-reaching economic impact. Although much of the world’s population will never encounter piracy, it has an impact on everyone, by increasing the cost of goods that are being shipped from place to place.”

Stuffle expressed that Sterett’s crew, like all deployed U.S. naval forces, have trained to meet a variety of mission sets that are important to the nation’s interest and stand ready to execute anti-piracy measures when directed.

Both Stuffle and Nunamaker agree the ultimate goal of this exercise is to strengthen military-to-military relationships between the U.S. and its Chinese counter-parts. The U.S. and Chinese navies conducted similar training, Aug. 20-25, 2013.

“These bi-lateral exercises help us establish clear paths for communication; they encourage transparency of trust, help us mitigate risk and allow us to demonstrate cooperative efforts in the international community to help us work together to deal with transnational threats. In the end, we look to create a peaceful, stable and secure maritime domain,” said Stuffle.

Sterett is deployed as part of the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and is supporting Operation Inherent Resolve conducting maritime security operations, strike operations in Iraq and Syria as directed and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility.

And Chinese presence in the region is clearly on the rise with the Chinese working towards a more permanent Djibouti presence, for example.

According to an article published on the Global Times Chinese language site last year and translated by the China-Africa project:

Fortunately for Djibouti, even though it is small and poor, it occupies a strategically important position.

Djibouti is located in a key area on the west coast of the Gulf of Aden, with its northern part facing the Mandab Strait where the Red Sea enters the Indian Ocean.

Djibouti is also a good natural harbor with calm and deep water.

Most importantly, unlike Somali, Djibouti has a secure and stable government that has had only two presidents since it gained independence from France in 1977.

The Somali and the Afar, the two largest ethnic groups in Djibouti, together make up almost 90 percent of the country’s population, and they get along in harmony.

Many countries have been attracted to build military bases in Djibouti because of its strategically important position and its stable and secure government.

First was France, its former colonizer. France and Djibouti have signed a defense agreement and France continues to operate several military bases in the country.

A Djiboutian scholar told us that France recognizes the importance of its bases in Djibouti now more than ever following its deployment of troops to Mali, and is now preparing to increase its troops and investment in Djibouti…..

While interviewing the commander of the Djibouti navy Colonel Abdourahman Aden Cher, we mentioned that in the 15th century, the Chinese admiral Zheng

He had sailed to the West [of China] and came to Africa and to Djibouti with friendly intentions and no intentions of invading it.

When he heard this, Colonel Abdourahman Aden Cher first seemed deep in thought, perhaps thinking that we were casting aspersions on Western countries because of their historical invasion of Djibouti.

He then suddenly said, “The US and France are also guests of Djibouti. They have their own role to play and we cooperate well.”

On the day before we visited the Colonel, Japan and Djibouti signed an agreement in which Japan donated two patrol boats to Djibouti.

However, when we asked the Colonel about the collaboration between the Djiboutian navy and foreign navies, he did not mention this.

Djibouti also has close relations with China.

In our interviews with Djiboutians, many of them mentioned that the former president of Djibouti Hassan Gouled Aptidon gave property in the country to China before he retired. Colonel Abdourahman Aden Cher told us that he knew that the Chinese Communist Party’s 18th Party Congress Work Reportmentioned China’s goal to become a maritime power and said that he welcomes China to build its own base in Djibouti.

A Chinese person in Djibouti sighed and said to us: “The ability of a small country like Djibouti to walk the tightrope of balancing the interests of the world’s major powers while achieving its own interests and developing deserves recognition.”

And this piece published on November 5, 2014 by China Military Online notes the arrival of a Chinese amphibious ship into Djibouti:

DJIBOUTI, November 5 (ChinaMil)

The amphibious dock landing ship “Changbaishan” of the 18th escort taskforce of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) that just completed the 778th escort mission docked at the Port of Djibouti on November 3, 2014, local time, for a five-day-long in-port rest and replenishment.

This is the third round of in-port rest and replenishment for the 18th Chinese naval escort taskforce since it set sail on August 1 this year.

As the amphibious dock landing ship “Changbaishan” sailed into the Port of Djibouti at 09:00 on November 3, Fu Huaqiang, Chinese ambassador to Djibouti, welcomed it with the embassy staff and representatives of Chinese enterprises, and boarded the “Changbaishan” ship for visit and held talks with the naval officers and men.

So far the 18th Chinese naval escort taskforce has completed 29 batches of escort missions, escorted 77 Chinese and foreign ships, provided special escort for 10 Chinese merchant ships in seven batches, and successfully driven away a number of suspicious skiffs, ensuring the safety of the escorted ships as well as itself.

To ensure the continuous and uninterrupted implementation of escort tasks, the “Yuncheng” and “Chaohu” warships of the escort taskforce will undertake the escort mission in the Gulf of Aden during the “Changbaishan” ship’s in-port rest and replenishment.