Overseas supply hub gets a push

Work on a key Chinese overseas naval facility must be accelerated to provide stronger support for missions, a senior official says.

Fan Changlong, vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, met with officers working at China's first overseas supply facility in Djibouti, the Defense Ministry said on Nov 18. Fan was the first senior military official to visit the facility.

The purpose of the hub, on which construction began in February, is to supply Chinese Naval ships taking part in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia, the ministry says.

Earlier reports said the supply hub has the capacity to house 10,000 personnel and is scheduled to be finished next year.

Djibouti was the last leg of Fan's four-nation tour, which ended on Nov 17. It also took him to Lebanon, Tanzania and Ethiopia.

During his meeting with Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Fan said the two countries had achieved remarkable results in personnel training, naval escorts and supplies and participation in UN peacekeeping operations.

China is willing to work with Djibouti to promote the healthy and stable development of relations between the militaries, Fan added.

Djibouti, at the southern entrance to the Red Sea, is surrounded by Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. It also hosts US, Japanese and French military bases.

Since 2008, China has sent 24 naval escort fleets to the Gulf of Aden and Somalia's waters, escorting more than 6,000 ships from home and abroad, the Defense Ministry says.

China is also the second-largest financial sponsor of UN peacekeeping operations. It has deployed more personnel than any nation on the Security Council - more than 30,000 for 24 peacekeeping missions.

Piracy requires escort fleets to ensure safe shipping and Djibouti is an ideal spot for a supply facility, given its proximity to the main mission area, says Liu Naiya, a researcher at the Institute of West Asian and African Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Ma Gang, a professor at PLA National Defense University, says the scale and function of the Chinese supply facility is different from that of a military base.

zhangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 12/02/2016 page3)