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Not Just Business: China’s Navy in Djibouti

The Chinese Navy beocomes a force to be reckoned with from the Meditteranean to the Pacific

epa03309966 Djibouti's President Ismail Om2012. Guelleh is in Beijing at the invitation of opening ceremony of the fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on 19 July.  EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL / POOL
Djibouti’s President Ismail Om2012. Guelleh is in Beijing at the invitation of opening ceremony of the fifth Ministerial Meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on 19 July. EPA/DIEGO AZUBEL / POOL

The President of Djibouti, Ismail Omar Guelleh, confirmed information published by Russian, British, US and Middle Eastern sources, namely that China is preparing a military based in the Horn of Africa, in Djibouti. The country is also home to a US, French, and Japanese naval bases.

Both US and British analysts claim the Chinese base will be based in the northern Obock city-port, across the Gulf of Tadjoura, Djibouti’s main commercial port where US military installations are also located.

Located between Yemen and Somalia, the former French colony, Djibouti, is considered of huge strategic significance, overseeing the Bab al-Mandeb straits, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world separating Africa from the Arabian Peninsula, leading into the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. It is a location valued both as a base of operations against pirates as well as its broader military significance.

The Chinese Ministry of Defense has refused to comment on this information. In May, US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Djibouti, amidst warnings that China was seeking to expand its influence in the African country. It is speculated that China is offering an annual “rent” for the base of a $100 million, that is, significantly more than the US’s $63 million.

According to US sources, China is implementing the development of a $9 bn infrastructure program in the country, focused on ports, airports and railway lines, connecting Djibouti to landlocked Ethiopia. Djibouti and Beijing signed a military agreement in February 2014.

Source: NewEurope

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