19 October 2016. Just when you thought that life couldn’t get any more complicated in North Africa and the Middle East, China announced in spring 2016 that it is constructing a naval military base in Djibouti. In case you aren’t sure where Djibouti is, it’s just across from Yemen and at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. China has been increasing its presence in the country for some years in terms of resources, but only now is turning to a military presence. Officially it will be a logistics support base, but according to the agreement, it could hold a contingent of up to 10,000 soldiers. See “China’s Experiment in Djibouti,” by François Dubé at http://thediplomat.com/2016/10/chinas-experiment-in-djibouti.
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