China Officially Opened its First Military Base Abroad

China officially opened its first military base abroad today in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa. The agency quoted Chinese state media as saying opening the base coincided with celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

Djibouti is a country located in the northwest corner of the Indian Ocean. In India, this has fueled fears that the base will become another link from the so-called pearl string of Chinese military alliances and countries that surround India, including Bangladesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka, according to Reuters.

China has begun building its base in Djibouti last year, and Beijing emphasizes that it is a logistical object that will be used in particular to reload its military ships involved in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions off the coasts of Yemen and Somalia. China's state radio reported more than 300 people attended the official flag-raising ceremony on the base, including Chinese Navy Deputy Commander Tian Zhong and Djibouti's Defense Minister. Chinese President Ciang Jinpin personally monitors the implementation of an ambitious program to modernize the army, including the creation of capabilities for the Chinese armed forces to move away from their homeland. The small state of Djibouti is located at the southern entrance of the Red Sea on the route of the ships to the Suez Canal, slid between Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. There are also bases of the United States, Japan and France. In diplomatic circles, there is talk that China will build more similar bases, for example in Pakistan, but Beijing rejects speculation, Reuters said.