China used its navy frigate to evacuate more than 600 Chinese workers in war-torn Yemen. Almost 500 boarded from al-Hodayda, a coastal city, while another 122 left via the port of Aden, reports Xinhua News Agency.

The Chinese overseas workers and citizens of six countries were first brought to Djibouti, located across the Gulf of Aden.

Like Us on Facebook

Most of the Chinese workers in Yemen are oil and textile traders, technicians and owners of restaurants. Some work in engineering, energy and food companies.

The Chinese embassy in Sanaa said it would continue to provide assistance to the small number of Chinese workers still in Yemen.

The ships that it used to pick up the Chinese workers were temporarily diverted from their antipiracy patrols on the coast of East Africa. China has been part of the antipiracy patrols in the region since 2008, partly also to guard its oil imports from the Middle East, which has gone up as well as other types of cargo.

Besides the evacuation of Chinese nationals that indicates the growing strength of China's military, another display of its military strength was the holding by its air force of its first sky drills away from the coastline. During the drill on Monday, its PLA jet flew over the western Pacific via the Bashi channel, south of Taiwan.

Shen Jinke, spokesman of the People's Liberation Army Air Force, said the aim of the drill was to bring up the PLA Air Force's mobility and combat capability over high seas. The drill was not directed at any country, Jinke adds.

In 2011, China deployed its frigate Xuzhou to Libya to evacuate Chinese workers in the African country when rebels overtook the nation and drove the dictator Moammar Qaddafi out of power.

Tagsyemen, frigate