Out of Africa: Will China's Military Displace the US on the Continent?
China is apparently set to open its first military base in Africa. The move has already thrilled the US media, which was quick to suppose that it is aimed at “edging out Western influence in the region and securing access to the continent’s vast mineral resources for itself.”
Beijing
has signed a ten-year leasing agreement with Djibouti to build a
logistical hub in the East African nation, located in the Horn
of Africa, according to a report of the US political newspaper The Hill.
“Setting up a military base in Africa makes perfect sense given China’s vast economic presence in the region,” the outlet further quotes J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, as saying. “The base would be cheaper than China’s current, temporary arrangements that allow for docking ships at Djibouti ports to conduct naval patrols.”
“The base also gives China an airfield that could significantly improve its intelligence gathering capabilities over the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Eastern Libya and well into Central Africa.”
“As such Chinese investments don’t come with any strings attached in terms of human rights or governance.”
Djibouti is a small country in East Africa, across from Yemen and on the Gulf of Aden, with a population of a little over 872,000, according to the World Bank estimates. The vast majority of the population (94%) is Muslim; about 6 percent are Christian.
Djibouti is strategically located near the world's busiest shipping lanes, controlling access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
The
country is a home to the US Camp Lemonnier base, which houses 4,500
American military personnel and is the only US military base in Africa.
Camp Lemonnier, according to its website, is a “Navy-led
establishment that supports and prepares ships, aircraft and other
deployments for regional and combatant command requirements. It also
enables US military operations in the surrounding Horn of Africa while
fostering positive US-African Nation relations."
It is also a major operational center for drone operations in Yemen and Somalia and one of America’s key intelligence-gathering posts on Islamic State and al-Qaeda, according to The Telegraph.
“They are going to build a base in Djibouti, so
that will be their first military location in Africa," it quotes US
Army Gen. David Rodriguez, commander of US Africa Command, as recently
telling defense reporters.
The base, he further suggested, would serve as a logistics hub for China to be able to "extend their reach."“Setting up a military base in Africa makes perfect sense given China’s vast economic presence in the region,” the outlet further quotes J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council, as saying. “The base would be cheaper than China’s current, temporary arrangements that allow for docking ships at Djibouti ports to conduct naval patrols.”
“The base also gives China an airfield that could significantly improve its intelligence gathering capabilities over the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Eastern Libya and well into Central Africa.”
However, the newspaper was quick to suggest
that “the move into Africa represents a challenge to the dominance
of the US, which has its own military base in Djibouti, at Camp
Lemonnier, from which it conducts intelligence, counter-piracy and
counterterrorism operations.”
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), a senior member of the Senate Foreign
Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, said that “the US has to be
vigilant in the face of China’s growing ambitions,” the article notes.
The idea is echoed by The National Interest
magazine, which, in turn, supposed that “the Chinese public relations
offensive combined with its new base means that Beijing is in Africa
for the long haul. Going forward in the years to come, Beijing could
edge out Western influence in the region and secure access to the
continent’s vast mineral resources for itself.”
The magazine explained that “China has somewhat of an advantage
in competing for business in Africa because it does not have any
intention or desire to impose its values on the locals or their
governments.”
A
26th Marine Expeditionary Unit Maritime Raid Force Marine finds target
locations on a map prior to conducting a joint terminal attack control
training exercise at an observation post in Djibouti, Africa, May 30,
2013
Djibouti is a small country in East Africa, across from Yemen and on the Gulf of Aden, with a population of a little over 872,000, according to the World Bank estimates. The vast majority of the population (94%) is Muslim; about 6 percent are Christian.
Djibouti is strategically located near the world's busiest shipping lanes, controlling access to the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
It is also a major operational center for drone operations in Yemen and Somalia and one of America’s key intelligence-gathering posts on Islamic State and al-Qaeda, according to The Telegraph.