BEIJING // A total of 449 Chinese nationals were evacuated from conflict-racked Yemen on Monday as an Arab coalition continued airstrikes against Shiite rebels near Sanaa.
Six nationals from other countries were also rescued, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
China’s foreign ministry said 122 Chinese citizens were evacuated on Sunday.
A People's Liberation Army naval detachment, which had been carrying out anti-piracy escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters, was sent to Yemen on Sunday to allow Chinese nationals to leave the country, China's defence ministry said. The flotilla has two guided-missile frigates and a supply ship, the Global Times reported on Monday.
Chinese diplomats will “try their best to arrange for the immediate evacuation of other people left in Yemen”, said foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying.
Previous Chinese media reports quoted Tian Qi, Beijing’s ambassador to Sanaa, as saying that there were a total of 590 Chinese citizens in the country.
* Agence France-Presse
