Report says China navy stopped pirate attack

BEIJING: China's navy has rescued an Italian ship from a pirate attack off the Somali coast, Chinese state media said Thursday.
Few details were given in the one-line report by the official Xinhua News Agency. The ship was identified only as an Liberian-flagged Italian merchant vessel whose crew had been attacked.
If verified, the rescue operation would be the first direct engagement between the Chinese navy and Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden since Beijing dispatched a three-ship squadron for anti-piracy operations last December.
The Chinese force — a supply ship and two destroyers armed with guided missiles, special forces and two helicopters — has previously restricted its operations mainly to escorting Chinese and Hong Kong vessels through the pirate-infested waters.
The squadron's dispatch was the first time the Communist country has sent ships on a mission that could involve fighting so far beyond its territorial waters...more..http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/26/asia/AS-China-Piracy.php