Why The U.S. Should Be Concerned That China Is Building A Base In Africa

James Poulos, The Week: China is building its first military base in Africa. America should be very nervous.

Africa is likely to become one of the biggest stories of 2016, and not because of some horrific new disease or harrowing new war. Instead, an unprecedented new dynamic is about to shape the continent. The U.S. and China, major powers with a minor footprint, are both poised for much deeper and more direct involvement in African affairs.

And rather than finding themselves on a crash course, they're facing a more complex — and, for America, unnerving — situation. Thanks to the much different challenges and priorities facing both powers, African intervention is shaping up as a feast for China and a famine for the U.S.

Look to Djibouti for big clues about why. News is quietly breaking that China has sealed a deal to build its first military base in that little country, a former French colony strategically located across from Yemen on the Red Sea, squeezed between Eritrea and Somalia. Confirming years of under-the-radar suspicions, AFRICOM commander Gen. David Rodriguez told The Hill that the "logistics hub" and airfield will let China "extend their reach" into Africa over the course of an initial 10-year contract. Currently, The Hill observed, China can't do much more than stage some naval patrols out of Djibouti ports.

Update: Why America Should be Worried About China’s New Military Base in Africa (Sputnik)

WNU Editor: China does not care how a foreign government runs its internal affairs .... the U.S. does. This U.S. policy has always unnerved many African government .... but now these same nations have an alternative to go to .... and knowing the Chinese they are going to exploit this to the full.