The East African quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on the plans to build a Chinese military base in Djibouti:
“It would make a great deal of sense for China to have a base there,” Washington-based Africa analyst J Peter Pham said in regard to Djibouti in an interview with The EastAfrican earlier this year.
Chinese military aircraft with a range of 2,500 miles would be able to operate over large swathes of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula from a base in Djibouti, Mr Pham noted, adding that a Chinese military facility in the strategically situated in the Horn “would not be in the US’s strategic interest.”