ABSTRACT
During Christmas 2008, there was a remarkable newsreel about the Chinese marines joining Western forces in military action in the Gulf of Aden to capture Somalian pirates who raided international vessels taking the route through Suez. The news reported that this was the first time after 600 years that the Chinese naval power sailed with three ships from the harbor of the island of Hainan to become involved in military action beyond its own waters. The news commemorated how, in 1421, the Ming emperor Zhu Di had sent his eunuch admiral Zheng He with an armada to explore unknown waters and improve trade. It indicated that China had established links with African coastal civilizations long before the Europeans approached the same borders.
