China Planning Navy Base In Djibouti?

The Chinese may be planning to build a permanent naval base in Djibouti, according to comments made by Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh. Djibouti, stationed right on the African side of the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, is a strategically vital location for ensuring the safe passage of shipping in and out of the Red Sea. Thus far, the Chinese have not confirmed any such plan for a naval base in Djibouti, but Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying noted that:

“regional peace and stability serves the interests of all countries and meets the aspirations shared by China, Djibouti and other countries around the world. The Chinese side is ready and obliged to make more contributions to that end.”

China has routinely deployed warships to the Gulf of Aden to combat piracy, and may feel it is time to establish a more permanent presence on the African Indian Ocean coast. Significant deployments of PLAN ships include the 17^th and 18^th naval escort task-forces to escort cargo ships through the Gulf of Aden last year, and the 19^th naval escort task-force deployed off of the coast of Somalia in December 2014, which was relieved by the 20^th naval escort task-force in April 2015.

Currently, France, the United States, and Japan keep naval bases open in Djibouti, primarily for fighting piracy in the Gulf. The US base, known as Camp Lemonnier, also is the center of the drone airstrike campaign against Al-Qaeda in Yemen and Al-Shabaab in Somalia. Last year, China and Djbouti signed an agreement giving the Chinese access to Djbouti port, and China currently funds infrastructure projects in Djbouti’s neighbor Ethiopia.

The Bab-el-Mandeb Strait is of little direct concern to China, as they receive petroleum from the Middle East by way of the Strait of Malacca and Strait of Hormuz. Only 4% of China’s natural gas imports and 3% of their petroleum imports come through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. This move is no doubt going to worry the United States and especially India, where fears over attempted Chinese hegemony in the Indian Ocean is paramount in the minds of Indian military strategists. China’s Silk Road agreements are viewed by many in India as an attempt by China to attain dominance over the Indian Ocean, where the vast majority of petroleum and natural gas used by India, China, and Japan is shipped through. A Chinese base in Djibouti would also be of great use in Chinese intelligence gathering operations, as the Chinese can easily observe US, French, and Japanese actions in the Arabian Sea as well as the greater Middle East.