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For 10,000 Chinese troops to move in to East
Africa, Beijing promised the completion of a $3 billion railroad to connect Djibouti with the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and a $400
million investment to expand and modernize
the East African nation’s port. This will be the first overseas military
installation of the People’s Republic. Chinese
officials say the base will be a logistics and
supply center, which sounds innocuous
enough. But its location has major strategic
significance: south of the Suez Canal at the mouth of the Red Sea, facing the Gulf of Aden
and the Somali coastline. In fact, whoever controls Djibouti’s strategic
position controls a key chokepoint of global
trade. Even if China doesn’t present its project that
way, clearly that’s the attraction. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the foreign minister
of Djibouti, told the press, “The goal of the
base is to fight against pirates, and most of all,
to secure the Chinese ships using this very
important strait that is important to all the
countries in the world.” “For Djibouti,” he added, China is “an
additional strategic ally.” Those Chinese ships Youssouf was referring
to are carrying oil, and lots of it. By taking advantage of crashing commodities
prices, China has been buying up the world’s
petroleum. Last year, Bloomberg reported that China purchased half a million barrels of crude
in excess of its daily needs in the first seven
months of 2015. In the current economic
downturn that is rocking markets across the
world, China is saving $460 billion per year in its purchase of commodities, about $320
billion of which is from cheap oil. China’s new base in Djibouti can be seen as
part of its policy in Africa and the Middle East.
Last December, Chinese President Xi Jinping
pledged $60 billion in funding to China’s
partners in Africa. The next month, he visited
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iran.
Slowly, Relentlessly, China’s Military Expands Its Global Reach - The Daily Beast
Africa, Beijing promised the completion of a $3 billion railroad to connect Djibouti with the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and a $400
million investment to expand and modernize
the East African nation’s port. This will be the first overseas military
installation of the People’s Republic. Chinese
officials say the base will be a logistics and
supply center, which sounds innocuous
enough. But its location has major strategic
significance: south of the Suez Canal at the mouth of the Red Sea, facing the Gulf of Aden
and the Somali coastline. In fact, whoever controls Djibouti’s strategic
position controls a key chokepoint of global
trade. Even if China doesn’t present its project that
way, clearly that’s the attraction. Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, the foreign minister
of Djibouti, told the press, “The goal of the
base is to fight against pirates, and most of all,
to secure the Chinese ships using this very
important strait that is important to all the
countries in the world.” “For Djibouti,” he added, China is “an
additional strategic ally.” Those Chinese ships Youssouf was referring
to are carrying oil, and lots of it. By taking advantage of crashing commodities
prices, China has been buying up the world’s
petroleum. Last year, Bloomberg reported that China purchased half a million barrels of crude
in excess of its daily needs in the first seven
months of 2015. In the current economic
downturn that is rocking markets across the
world, China is saving $460 billion per year in its purchase of commodities, about $320
billion of which is from cheap oil. China’s new base in Djibouti can be seen as
part of its policy in Africa and the Middle East.
Last December, Chinese President Xi Jinping
pledged $60 billion in funding to China’s
partners in Africa. The next month, he visited
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Iran.
Slowly, Relentlessly, China’s Military Expands Its Global Reach - The Daily Beast
