China Evacuates Citizens From Yemen

China said it successfully evacuated more than 600 nationals from conflict-torn Yemen and conducted an air force drill on Monday over the western Pacific Ocean—two operations that illustrate the country’s growing military capabilities.

Nearly 500 Chinese nationals left the Yemeni coastal city of al-Hodayda aboard a navy frigate, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Monday evening. More than 122 departed on Sunday from the port of Aden, Xinhua said; didn’t say how. In both operations, the Chinese and citizens of six other nations were being transported to Djibouti across the Gulf of Aden, Xinhua said.

Separately, closer to home, China’s air force said it completed its first drill in the skies away from the country’s coastline, south of Taiwan. Xinhua, quoting a People’s Liberation Army Air Force spokesman, Shen Jinke, said that during the drill PLA aircraft flew over the western Pacific through the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan on Monday. The drill aimed to “level up the PLA Air Force’s mobility and combativeness” over the high seas, it quoted Mr. Shen as saying. Mr. Shen emphasized the drill was legal and not directed at any nation.

For the Yemen operation, China’s Ministry of Defense said earlier Monday that it planned to move two missile frigates and a helicopter-equipped supply ship toward the country to run an evacuation. China’s embassy in the Yemeni capital, San’a, will continue to assist the “small number” of Chinese who chose to remain in the country, Xinhua said.

Chinese citizens in Yemen appear to include oil and textile traders, technicians and restaurateurs. A list posted to the website of China’s Ministry of Commerce cites major engineering, energy and food companies among those in Yemen. The list hasn’t been updated since 2007 and efforts to reach several of the named companies were unsuccessful.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters at a regular briefing on Monday afternoon that some 122 of the country’s citizens had already been evacuated from Yemen.

The spokeswoman said she had no additional information about any broader role for China in the crisis but urged a peaceful resolution and said China is in contact with “all sides” in relation to its citizens. She wasn’t more specific.

Saudi Arabia is leading a campaign of airstrikes by Sunni Muslim regional states, with support from the U.S., against the Shiite, Iranian-backed Houthi militias that have overthrown Yemen’s government.

The Yemen operation represents a swapping of priorities for China’s military, at least temporarily.

The vessels deployed to Yemen are being diverted from long-running antipiracy patrols on the East African coast. Since 2008, China’s navy has taken part in the antipiracy patrols, as Chinese oil imports from the Middle East have risen and the amount of Chinese cargo traffic that moves through the region has grown.

The Yemen conflict comes four years after China sent its navy to Libyan shores to evacuate its citizens there after that country descended into civil war. The Chinese frigate Xuzhou, then similarly diverting from antipiracy patrols, provided support as Chinese and charter planes and ships evacuated more than 35,000 people.

Far smaller operations have evacuated Chinese from other countries, including Vietnam last year during rioting; Egypt in 2011 amid political upheaval; Japan the same year following an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident; and Mexico during 2009 amid concerns about the H1N1 flu strain.

In 2013, statements from China and Yemen announced the award of a $507 million contract that would include Chinese financing and engineering work to upgrade the port in Aden. Recent reports in Yemeni media indicate the project stalled amid the conflict.

From a low base, China’s oil imports from Yemen have been rising quickly in recent months, though it was only China’s 15th-largest source during the first two months of this year, accounting for about 1.1% of tonnage imported during that period. While the amount of China’s crude oil imported from Yemen was relatively small, at 615,416 metric tons during the two-month period, the level was 300% higher than a year earlier.

Oil is Yemen’s top export. Among the smaller producers there was China National Offshore Oil Corp.’s Canadian unit Nexen Inc., which shut operations in December and said it might pull out entirely because of the deteriorating security situation.