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A top Chinese naval official has proposed setting up a permanent base to support ships on an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden, raising the idea that China could build foreign bases elsewhere.

In an interview posted on the defense ministry’s website, Yin Zhuo – an admiral and senior researcher at the navy’s Equipment Research Center – said such a base would bolster China’s long-term participation in the operation.

“We are saying to fulfill our international commitments, we need to strengthen our supply capacity.”

Yin’s proposal, posted on Tuesday, came after a Chinese cargo ship and its crew of 25 were rescued from Somali pirates on Monday, following the payment of a 3.5-million-dollar ransom to their kidnappers.

China has sent four flotillas to the region since the end of last year, with the first escort fleet spending 124 days at sea without docking, Yin said – a length of time that added to the challenges of the operation.

Since then, Chinese vessels have been allowed to dock and resupply at a French naval base. The United States, the European Union and Japan all have supply bases in the region.

“If China establishes a similar long-term supply base, I believe that the nations in the region and the other countries involved with the escorts would understand,” he said.

“I think a permanent, stable base would be good for our operations.”

Any decision to establish such a base would have to be decided by the Communist Party of China and its Central Military Commission, Yin said.

As the world’s largest importer of crude oil, China is reportedly interested in establishing naval bases in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Thailand and the South China Sea to protect its sea transportation lines.