Satellite imagery suggests that there may be more to China’s first overseas military base than meets the eye, according to geo-intelligence firms.
Satellite imagery suggests there may be more to China’s first overseas military base than meets the eye, according to a geo-intelligence firm.
China began building a military base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa last year, and the People’s Liberation Army dispatched troops to the base earlier this month. China asserts the base is for peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, arguing that the Chinese military will use the base to “make new and greater contributions” to regional peace and stability, but the U. S., which has its own base nearby, has concerns about China’s strategic intentions.
“We’ ve never had a base of, let’s just say a peer competitor, as close as this one happens to be, ” Marine Corps General Thomas Waldhauser, commander of AFRICOM, told Breaking Defense in March. “There are some very significant operational security concerns” with regard to China’s overseas military base development.
“This initiative, along with regular naval vessel visits to foreign ports, both reflects and amplifies China’s growing influence, extending the reach of its armed forces, ” the Department of Defense noted in the this year’s China Military Power Report.
Satellite images from Stratfor Worldview and Allsource Analysis show that the Djibouti military base is much bigger and more secure than previously thought.
