China to construct naval bases only in Djibouti

[Hindustani78]

BEIJING: November 30, 2016 20:22 IST
Updated: November 30, 2016 20:24 IST
http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...al-bases-only-in-Djibouti/article16731149.ece

Defence Ministry of the country ends speculation that it is planning such bases elsewhere abroad.

China’s Defence Ministry on Wednesday sought to end speculation that Beijing was planning to construct additional naval bases apart from the one in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

“As for what you’ve said about whether China will build logistics supply facilities in other places, I’ve not heard any news about this,” Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said in response to a question during his monthly press conference.

In February, China began construction of a military base in Djibouti — strategically important location as it overlooks shipping lanes entering the Suez Canal. A naval presence in Djibouti can also play a helpful role in the countering piracy radiation from waters around Somalia and the Gulf of Aden.

Apart from China, the French, the Americans and the Japanese also have naval bases in Djibouti.

Fan Changlong, a vice chairman of China's powerful Central Military Commission, paid an official visit to Djibouti, earlier this month.

No hiccups in its construction

Col. Yang said that there were no hiccups in the construction of the Djibouti base, which was required to help fulfill China’s international obligations.

 

[Mentee]

Much needed step for intel maritime security

 

[Hassan Guy]

We should build one too.

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news-servic...se-in-djibouti-worries-us/article17373649.ece

Beijing is constructing its first overseas base just a few miles from Camp Lemonnier, one of Washington’s largest installations
United States and China are about to become neighbours in this sun-scorched patch of East African desert. China is constructing its first overseas military base in Djibouti — just a few miles from Camp Lemonnier, one of the Pentagon’s largest and most important foreign installations.

With increasing tensions over China’s island-building efforts in the South China Sea, U.S. strategists worry that a naval port so close to Camp Lemonnier could provide a front-row seat to the staging ground for U.S. counterterrorism operations in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa.

Surveillance concerns

Established after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Camp Lemonnier is home to 4,000 personnel. Some are involved in highly secretive missions, including targeted drone killings in West Asia and the Horn of Africa, and the raid last month in Yemen that left a member of the Navy SEALs dead.

The base, which is run by the Navy and abuts Djibouti’s international airport, is the only permanent U.S. military installation in Africa.

Beyond surveillance concerns, U.S. officials, citing the billions of dollars in Chinese loans to Djibouti’s heavily indebted government, wonder about the long-term durability of an alliance that has served Washington well in its global fight against Islamic extremism.

Just as important, experts say, the base’s construction is a milestone marking Beijing’s expanding global ambitions — with potential implications for the United States’s long-standing military dominance.

“It’s naval power expansion for protecting commerce and China’s regional interests in the Horn of Africa,” said Peter Dutton, professor of strategic studies at the Naval War College in Rhode Island.

“This is what expansionary powers do. China has learned lessons from Britain of 200 years ago,” he added.

A resting facility: Beijing

Chinese officials play down the significance of the base, saying it will largely support anti-piracy operations that have helped quell the threat to international shipping once posed by marauding Somalis.

“The support facility will be mainly used to provide rest and rehabilitation for the Chinese troops taking part in escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia, UN peacekeeping and humanitarian rescue,” the Defence Ministry in Beijing said.

In addition to having 2,400 peacekeepers in Africa, China has used its vessels to escort more than 6,000 boats from many countries through the Gulf of Aden, the Ministry said.

China’s military has also evacuated its citizens caught in the world’s trouble spots. In 2011, the military plucked 35,000 from Libya, and 600 from Yemen in 2015.

Beijing also said that China was not budging from its “defensive” military policy and that the base did not indicate an “arms race or military expansion.”

U.S. officials say they were blindsided by Djibouti’s decision, announced last year, to give China a 10-year lease for the land.

In interviews, Djiboutian officials expressed little concern that two strategic adversaries would be sharing space.

It helps that the Chinese are paying $20 million a year in rent to the country, on top of the billions they are spending to finance critical infrastructure, including ports and airports, a new rail line and a pipeline that will bring desperately needed drinking water from neighbouring Ethiopia. NYT

 

[Hindustani78]

Grand Bara, Djibouti Feb 20 2017

 

[Hindustani78]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/intern...-increase-in-marine-force/article17457925.ece

Some of them will be stationed at Gwadar and Djibouti
China is set to rapidly expand its marine corps and the Navy in anticipation of the development of its Maritime Silk Road (MSR), which covers the Pakistani port of Gwadar, and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

The Hong Kong based South China Morning Post (SCMP) quoting “military insiders and experts” reported that China is planning a five-fold increase in its marine force — from 20,000 to 100,000 personnel.

Guarding CPEC

These numbers are still well short of the 182,000 strong marine corps of the United States, which has an aviation component of 1,199 planes.

Some of the Chinese marines would be stationed at Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, and the Pakistani port of Gwadar, the starting point of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

“Besides its original missions of a possible war with Taiwan, maritime defence in the East and South China seas, it’s also foreseeable that the PLA Navy’s mission will expand overseas, including protection of China’s national security in the Korean peninsula, the country’s maritime lifelines, as well as offshore supply deports like in Djibouti and Gwadar port in Pakistan,” the daily quoted Li Jie, a Beijing based naval expert as saying.


The SCMP write-up did not clarify whether China was considering a limited deployment of its marines, or had a larger plan of establishing a de facto naval base in Gwadar.

Last week, the Pakistani daily, Dawn quoted Pakistan Army chief Gen. Qamar Bajwa as saying that the country’s security forces were “fully prepared” to meet all security challenges to projects of the CPEC and Chinese nationals living in the country.

Collaboration with Pak.

He made these remarks on Saturday during a visit to the headquarters of the 15,000 strong Special Security Division (SSD), charged with the “security of Chinese on CPEC and non-CPEC projects”.

The daily said that the SSD, formed after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Islamabad in 2015, will provide security to Chinese personnel and projects throughout the country. The division has been established in close collaboration with China and the two sides are also cooperating to implement a multi-layered security plan.

 

[c-dome1]

We should build one too.

you dont have money for that

 

[AmirPatriot]

Everyone and their mother is building a military base in Djibouti it seems.

What next? "Burundi to open military base in Djibouti"?

 

[Kuwaiti Girl]

Everyone and their mother is building a military base in Djibouti it seems.

What next? "Burundi to open military base in Djibouti"?

Djibouti is trying to secure its fragile sovereignty, it seems.

 

[AmirPatriot]

Djibouti is trying to secure its fragile sovereignty

Securing its sovereignty by hosting military bases from several countries. Interesting.

 

[Kuwaiti Girl]

Securing its sovereignty by hosting military bases from several countries. Interesting.

Why is that so hard for you to understand? These countries now have a vested interest in Djibouti's sovereignty and stability.

Djibouti feels threatened by its immediate neighbors, not by faraway countries such as China. It has had territorial disputes with Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia over the years.

Japan, France, the US and China all have a presence in Djibouti right now. This has benefited the local economy and provided the country with much-needed protection from its neighbors.

 

[AmirPatriot]

Why is that so hard for you to understand? These countries now have a vested interest in Djibouti's sovereignty and stability.

And don't expect them to stop there. They will compete with each other and interfere in Djibouti's internal affairs. Control of that strategic strait is up for grabs.

 

[Kuwaiti Girl]

And don't expect them to stop there. They will compete with each other and interfere in Djibouti's internal affairs. Control of that strategic strait is up for grabs.

All countries interfere in other countries' affairs. That's a fact of life.

 

[AmirPatriot]

All countries interfere in other countries' affairs. That's a fact of life.

No shit. My point was that this will not necessarily be good for Djibouti in the long term.

 

[Kuwaiti Girl]

No shit. My point was that this will not necessarily be good for Djibouti in the long term.

It will be, especially with regard to its economy.