Djibouti base shows China’s role as guardian of peace in Horn of Africa

APD NEWS

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**By

APD Commentator Zhang Hao**

The formal opening of China’s first overseas military support base in Djibouti on Aug.1 is a manifestation of the country’s efforts in safeguarding regional peace and stability as well as fulfilling its due obligations as a major country in the world.

China in recent years proposed the Belt and Road Initiative, charting a new development path featuring openness, sharing, cooperation, unity, win-win and inclusiveness.

The initiative lays the foundation for a new system of global governance and underpins China’s “two centenary goals.”

The two centenaries refer to the 100 anniversaries of the founding of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Republic of China, which fall in 2021 and 2049, respectively.

According to the twin goals, by 2020 China's GDP and per-capita income should double from 2010 levels, and the building of a moderately prosperous society should be complete.

By the middle of this century, China should become a modern socialist country that is "prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious."

Given the large scale of the Belt and Road Initiative in terms of both the geographic space and the fields of cooperation it covers, ensuring that all cooperation projects could be implemented securely has emerged as a tough task. Resolving security problems along the Belt and Road is a fundamental premise for the success of the initiative.

With the strengthening of its navy, China has timely put forward the strategy of combining offshore waters defense with open seas protection, and protecting the country’s overseas interests has become a grave and inescapable duty of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The PLA’s strong will and combat capacity have been showcased through its fearlessness and conviction about accomplishment during the escort missions at the Gulf of Aden as well as the evacuations of overseas Chinese nationals.

Those missions, on the other hand, have also exposed such problems as the PLA’s lack of ability in carrying out oceangoing tasks as well as

the absence of support facilities for long-term overseas missions.

The sailors oftentimes will have to drift for months before reaching the shores, which is not only a challenge for the willpower of men, but also a threat to the integrity of equipment.

The best way to solve these problems is to establish support bases overseas, especially those that can provide maintenance for naval vessels.

By doing so, China will continuously deliver security protection forces to regions along the Belt and Road and maintain a long-term presence. It is also conducive to creating a routine security mechanism and making China, the initiator of the Belt and Road Initiative, better fulfill its due responsibility of safeguarding security.

Djiboutian President Ismail Omar Guelleh and the country’s foreign minister, Mahamoud Ali Youssouf, confirmed last year that China would establish an overseas base in the country, stressing that it would be China’s first such base outside its territory.

Located on the east coast of Africa, Djibouti, tiny as it is, guards the port facing the Red Sea and bears strategic importance.

China is not the only country which deploys its armed forces there, other countries including the United States, Japan and France all have their military bases there as well.

It can be said that the building of bases is one of the major sources of fiscal revenue for the Horn of Africa country.

Exactly because of that, the establishment of China’s first overseas support base in Djibouti carries unique values: It does not seek political or military compliance of the host country, nor is it a threat of force in any form. It’s based on the starting point of maintaining regional peace and stability and fulfilling the due responsibilities of a major country.

In a broad sense, the support base in Djibouti is similar to the one at the Port of Karachi in Pakistan, where Chinese warships and submarines can enter, berth and exit freely.

In addition, China is also allowed to lease 2,000 acres (8 square km) of land in the Karachi Port area for 43 years, in a sense making it another overseas base or naval port of China.

In a narrow sense, however, an overseas support base must have necessary maintenance facilities and administrative agencies, including command post, telecommunication station, ammunition depot, oil refueling and storage facility, hospital, administrative personnel and so forth.

China’s support base in Djibouti is the first of its kind that meets the above requirements.

During a regular press conference on Nov. 26, 2015, Chinese foreign spokesman Hong Lei said:

“In accordance with relevant UN resolutions, China has deployed over 60 vessels to the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast in 21 escort missions since 2008. In the process of escorting, we encountered real difficulties in replenishing soldiers and resupplying fuel and food, and found it really necessary to have nearby and efficient logistical support. China and Djibouti are friendly countries. We are consulting with each other on the building of logistical facilities in Djibouti, which will better serve Chinese troops when they carry out international peacekeeping operations, escort ships in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast and perform humanitarian rescue. It is of great significance for the Chinese troops in their performance of international obligations to safeguard international and regional peace and stability.”

In fact, the remarks above have clearly demonstrated the purpose of the base: Firstly, it is a support facility for the navy; secondly, it will be used during Chinese troops’ missions of maintaining regional peace and stability; and thirdly, China confirms it will rely on the base to fulfill its international obligations.

On July 11, China formally established the overseas support base in Djibouti and started to deliver permanent troops there. It marks the first time China sends a regular military unit to be stationed overseas.

So why does China want to set up such a base in Djibouti? Providing supply for the fleet participating in escort missions at the nearby Gulf of Aden is indeed the urgent need -- and necessary as well -- but the aim, in essence, is to enable China to play a bigger role in safeguarding global security.

Known as the Horn of Africa, Djibouti lies beside the Gulf of Aden that connects the Red Sea with the Arabian Sea and, together with the Suez Canal in the north, forms the vital pathway liking the Red Sea with wider oceans.

If we draw a circle centered at Djibouti with a radius of 2,000 kilometers, it will cover an area encompassing Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Turkey, Yemen, Sudan, Mali and Somalia -- all of which are places where international hot-spot issues are going on.

As long as China maintains a certain degree of military presence in the region, it will protect its interests and the security of its nationals in these places.

On Aug. 1, which also marked the 90th anniversary of the founding of the PLA, the Chinese military unit finally arrived at Djibouti’s port after half a month of navigation. A grand ceremony featuring flag-raising and parade was held to inaugurate the base.

From that day onward, there will be an armed force in the Middle East and North Africa regions -- which have faced tumultuous situations time and again -- that keeps Chinese interests from being violated, and the security of Chinese nationals from being threatened.

It is reported that construction of China’s Djibouti’s base is still underway, and that the arriving troops are only a joint advance force.

It is expected that there will be more warships and sailors to be deployed at the base, so that China is able to better protect its national interests, safeguard the security of overseas Chinese, and make positive contributions to regional peace and stability.


Zhang Hao is a commentator for the Chinese magazine Shipborne Weapons and a senior military expert.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)