Nearly 29,000 China Nationals Evacuated From Libya

Political unrest in Libya has spurred the Chinese government’s largest push ever to bring home nationals, as they have already recovered nearly 29,000 citizens by air, and sea.

Last week, China commissioned a navy missile frigate to Libya not only to protect their sea craft, but to rescue their people and transport them to safe zones. Around 10,000 have been brought to Crete and 11,000 more to Tunisian Islands. Others have been dispersed among other locations including Sudan, Dubai, and United Arab Emirates. The Chinese evacuees are awaiting to board flights back home to China, which the government is chartering. The foreign ministry has said that 2,500 of these expatriates have returned back to China safely. It is not known how many Chinese have yet to be evacuated.

In order to expedite the remaining Chinese in Libya, the Civil Aviation Administration of China has reported to send 15 aircraft daily for the next 2 weeks.

In the past, China had shied away from endeavors that could possibly be interpreted as harnessing military power internationally, though this tendency has been lessening with growing threat of piracy and global political turbulence. The ships sent to Libya were actually broke off of anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden and instructed to protect ships carrying Chinese nationals.

China is just one among many countries to outreach with rescue to stranded nationals. The mass exodus includes at least 100,000 individuals who are fleeing the violence in Libya.