China's military makes move into Africa

[nitpicker]

http://thehill.com/policy/defense/261153-chinas-military-makes-move-into-africa

China's military makes move into Africa

By Kristina Wong - 11/24/15 06:00 AM EST

China is establishing its first military base in Africa, according to a top U.S. general, providing yet another sign of its growing reach beyond the Asia Pacific. "They are going to build a base in Djibouti, so that will be their first military location in Africa," U.S. Army Gen. David Rodriguez, the commander of U.S. Africa Command, recently told defense reporters.

There has been speculation for years that China might establish a base in Djibouti, but Rodriguez said China has signed a 10-year contract with the African nation. The base, he said, 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, said J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Center at the Atlantic Council. The base would be cheaper than China’s current, temporary arrangements that allow for docking ships at Djibouti ports to conduct naval patrols, he said.

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.

The move into Africa represents a challenge to the dominance of the United States, which has its own military base in Djibouti, at Camp Lemonnier, from which it conducts intelligence, counter-piracy and counterterrorism operations.
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