Piracy in the Strait of Malacca has long been a threat to ship owners and the mariners who ply the 900 km-long sea lane. In recent years, coordinated patrols by Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Sing
Strait of Malacca
A US merchant seaman takes aim during training to repel pirates in the Strait of Malacca, 1984.
Suspected pirates assemble on the deck of a dhow in waters off western Malaysia, January 2006.
Wokou
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Wokou, meaning "Japanese pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 17th century. The wokou were made of various ethnicities of East Asian ancestr
Piracy in the Strait of Malacca
…Thalassocracy – Sea-based state or society Wokou – 13th–17th century pirates in East Asia "Civilizing pirates: Nineteenth century British ideas about piracy, race and civilization in the Malay…
An 18th-century Chinese painting depicting a naval battle between wokou pirates and the Chinese
One of the gates of the Chongwu Fortress on the Fujian coast, originally built c. 1384
A suit of wokou armour on display at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution
Attacks by the wokou. Excerpt of the Wokou Tujuan, a 17th-century scroll