It's been an ongoing problem for many years now, but recently the issue of piracy off the east coast of Africa has been highlighted by a number of high-profile hijackings, including a massive oil tanker worth millions of dollars.  And most recently an attempt by Somali pirates to hijack a Chinese vessel was finally thwarted. So far 40 vessels have been hijacked in that region this year... a region which sees some 20,000 ships a year pass through.  Because of the number of hijackings, the Chinese government has decided to send a pair of destroyers and a supply ship to the region to protect the safety of Chinese ships, including those from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao, as well as ships carrying humanitarian relief material for international organizations.  So what more can be done to protect ships in that region?  And why is piracy so rampant in the waters off Somalia? 

Ni hao, you're listening to  People In the Know, your window into the world around you, online at crienglish.com here on China Radio International.  In this edition of the show, to coincide with the launch of the Chinese ships today to the east coast of Africa, we'll be talking about piracy and the situation in the east African region.  So let's get started.

(Music)

First we'll hear from an expert in African affairs.  My colleague Paul James talks with Professor He Wenping, director of the African Studies Section at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(Dialogue with He)

And after a short break, we'll talk to a security expert.

(Promo)

Ni hao, you're listening to  People In the Know, your window into the world around you, online at crienglish.com here on China Radio International.  I'm Zhao Yang in Beijing.  In this edition of the show we're talking about naval piracy off the east coast of Africa, and the Chinese government's decision to, today, launch a pair of warships and a supply ship to the region to help keep ships safe there.  For more on this we're joined on the line now by Dr. Zhang Jiadong, security expert and associate professor at the center for American Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai.

(Dialogue with Zhang)

And with that we close out this edition of  People In the Know, your window into the world around you, online at crienglish.com here on China Radio International.  Looking at a map, one might tend to neglect to remember that the oceans are a vast and very difficult place to patrol.  But it's through efforts like the Chinese government is putting forward that will hopefully help to rid that important expanse of water off the east coast of Africa from piracy.  Questions or comments for us can be sent to people@cri.com.cn.  For Producers Chen Mo and Xu Yang, I'm Zhao Yang in Beijing.  We'll talk to you tomorrow.