China Has a New Military Base in Djibouti. Here’s why it Matters
By: W. Alex Sanchez & Scott Morgan
International Policy Digest
August 11, 2017
Originally published:
https://intpolicydigest.org/2017/08/11/china-military-base-djibouti/
The People’s Republic of China has inaugurated its first
military base overseas in the Republic of Djibouti. The project further cements
Beijing’s interest in the African continent, and exemplifies how the latter
continues to be utilized as part of a geopolitical game of influences by global
military powers.
China’s Base
Beijing has stated that the base will be utilized to monitor
maritime commerce that crosses the Suez Canal and passes through the Red Sea
and Gulf of Aden into the Indian Ocean. A July 11 article by Xinhua explains
that “the base will ensure China’s performance of missions, such as escorting,
peace-keeping and humanitarian aid in Africa and west Asia” and also it will
“be conducive to overseas tasks including military cooperation, joint
exercises, evacuating and protecting overseas Chinese and emergency rescue, as
well as jointly maintaining security of international strategic seaways.” The
base was inaugurated on 1 August and the Beijing – Djibouti deal will
reportedly last until 2026.
There are certainly valid reasons for the project, as
pirates off the coast of Somalia have targeted civilian vessels for years. As a
response, the Europe Union created the Naval Force Operation Atalanta, to
combat piracy in the Horn of Africa. Apart from European navies, countries like
Colombia and China have also provided vessels to protect this important
maritime route. China is particularly at risk of suffering if maritime trade
through the Indian Ocean suffers, as the Asian giant imports much of its
resources.
As for the facilities, they are supposed to be a port for Chinese
naval platforms to dock, resupply and continue their patrolling operations.
Nevertheless, the complex appears to be suited for other tasks. The renowned
company Stratfor published on 26 July an assessment of the base, which included
aerial photos of the facilities. The article explains how the base has an
“extensive security perimeter, which features three layers of defense,” as well
as “a large underground component [which] measures approximately 23,000 square
meters.” Stratfor also explains that there is a “tarmac and a row of eight
hangars which suggest that aircraft such as helicopters could be based there
someday. However, it is unlikely that the facility will host fixed-wing
aircraft because at 400 meters the tarmac is much too short to accommodate
fighter jets or even larger drones.”
Indeed, China’s first base abroad should be regarded as a
major, well-defended complex.
Bases-A-Plenty
To be fair, China is not the sole hemispheric power to have
military facilities in the African continent. In fact, the U.S. already has a
base in Djibouti: the US Naval Expeditionary Base, situated at Djibouti’s
Djibouti–Ambouli International Airport, also known as Camp Lemonnier which is
shared with France. France also has access to naval base of Héron; Italy has
BMNS-Base Militare Nazionale di Supporto (National Support Military Base);
while Japan’s defense facilities are called Deployment Airforce for
Counter-Piracy Enforcement (DAPE). In other words, five nations, out of which
three are nuclear powers, with Tokyo and Washington having issues (to phrase it
mildly) with Beijing, have facilities in a country measuring approximately
23,200 km2.
While it is outside of this commentary’s analysis, one must
wonder what is the rationale of President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh (in power since
1999 and re-elected in 2016 for a fourth term) to allow five countries, to have
military deployments in his nation’s territory. One of the explanations has to
be financial as the leased military bases to the five nations will add funds to
the coffers of the country. Secondly these bases could discourage Eritrea from
any further adventures as border issues between the neighbors escalate. Of
course this also means that the quality of the Djiboutian military will improve
as well as the foreign powers will probably carry out training operations with
local forces.
Moreover it is worth noting, the U.S. has several other
bases across the continent, known as Forward Operating Locations (FOLs) and
Cooperative Security Locations (CSLs). As for France, the European nation has
become very involved in Mali to combat al-Qaeda linked groups. A May 19, 2012
report by Al Jazeera highlights how Paris has “1,600 French soldiers stationed
[in Mali], on the largest French military base outside of France.”
Additionally, France has a base in Gabon. India, another rising global power
like China, has the Indian Overseas Military Base at Assumption Island in the
Seychelles. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom has British Army Training Unit in
Kenya and the International Military Assistance Training Team (IMATT) in Sierra
Leone. Similarly, recent reports hint at Turkey opening up training facilities
in Somalia with plans announced recently to open an additional facility in said
country.
Finally, it is important to note that the members of the
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are increasingly active in Africa as well. As
one of the co-authors has pointed out previously, the GCC “recognize[s] that
across Africa’s Muslim-majority countries a host of violent and extremist
Islamic groups pose a dire threat to Arabian Peninsula security and GCC
interests in Africa.” The UAE has already opened up a base in Somaliland
region, and it will be interesting to see if other GCC nations take similar
initiatives in the near future.
21st Century Military Geopolitics
Today, the Africa continent constitutes 54 independent
nations (depending on whether to count Somalia as a single state, which is
another issue). Nevertheless, while the era of colonialism is over,
neo-colonialism seems to be alive and well. There are a plethora of works in
recent years about how Africa continues to be taken advantage of, with very
little trickling down to benefit the masses. For example, Tom Burgis’ The
Looting Machine discusses the role of transnational companies that profit from
Africa’s natural resources.
Moreover, various extra-hemispheric governments have
increased their presence in Africa by establishing military facilities to
battle specific security threats (mostly rebels, pirates or terrorist
movements) but which have the added bonus of creating strong defense-related
bonds between the host country and the outside power. The United States, by
far, has the biggest military presence in Africa in terms of number of bases as
well as personnel (though figuring out an exact number is tricky given the
secrecy of these deployments). However former colonial powers like France,
Italy and the UK, as well as non-Western states like India, Japan, Turkey and
GCC states also have defense roles in the region. Hence, it should not be a
surprise that China is establishing a base in Africa, as Beijing is simply
following a pattern established by several other nations.
With that said, there is the obvious concern about how the
ongoing mistrust and animosity between Washington and Beijing will play out in
Djibouti. Will the facilities of both nations manage to co-exist peacefully as
they are there, at least theoretically, to face common security threats?
The views expressed in this article are those of the authors
alone and do not necessarily reflect any institutions with which the authors
are associated.
