BEIJING?A Chinese naval convoy arrived Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden on a landmark mission to protect the country's shipping from Somali pirates and escorted its first four vessels, state media reported.
The four ships that were escorted were Chinese merchant vessels, including one from Hong Kong, Xinhua news agency said in a dispatch filed from aboard the destroyer Wuhan.
The naval mission, deploying two destroyers and a supply ship, marks China's first potential combat mission beyond its territorial waters in centuries.
