Rising tensions between the U.S. and China have led to diplomatic spats and dangerous military encounters, but where U.S. and Chinese troops are closest to each other, they are getting along, the outgoing commander of U.S. Africa Command said Thursday. . Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti is the only permanent US military base in Africa. It is also just a few miles from a Chinese People’s Liberation Army base, China’s only overseas military outpost. China officially opened the base in late 2017. U.S. military leaders greeted it with concern and have formally complained to China about activity there, but there have been no problems among their personnel in Djibouti, U.S. Army Gen. Steven Townsend said. in Defense Event of the Writers Group. The US base at Camp Lemonnier and the Chinese base are only a few miles apart around the capital of Djibouti. Google Maps “Anytime there’s a competitor operating in close proximity, you look out for that and you’re more careful, but the truth is we’ve co-existed alongside the Chinese base there,” said Townsend, who took over in July 2019. “There’s not a lot of tension, really. They actually meet each other in various engagement activities there around Djibouti City, and in the past we’ve really helped each other out,” Townsend said. “There was a fire in the city dump, actually, south of Camp Lemonnier a few years ago, and the Djiboutians called for help,” Townsend added. “We responded and found ourselves, our firefighters, fighting alongside Chinese firefighters, fighting alongside Djibouti firefighters to control the fire in the city dump.” “So even though we have this competition, the facts are that we co-exist down there,” Townsend told reporters.
He doesn’t bother, but he watches closely
Military personnel at the opening ceremony for China’s base in Djibouti, August 1, 2017. STR/AFP via Getty Images
The US and China are not alone in Djibouti. France has a long-standing military presence there — Camp Lemonnier was created by the French Foreign Legion — and Japan opened its only overseas military outpost there in 2011, several years after it and other countries began conducting anti-piracy operations in Horn of Africa. China has also been involved in these anti-piracy efforts and continues to send ships on patrols around the Horn of Africa. It sent the 41st Special Escort Group to the region in May. Its special forces typically consist of three to four ships deployed for three to four months, spending most of that time at sea, Thomas Shugart, a naval warfare expert at the Center for a New American Security, told Insider in June. China’s rapid naval expansion means it is sending more sophisticated ships. “They’re modernizing these ships, so they come with increased combat capability, but that’s also something that any navy would probably do,” Townsend said. Chinese troops also participate in UN missions in Africa and likely gain experience from that, but “none of that bothers me very much as a military leader,” Townsend said. Ships carrying Chinese personnel to set up a base in Djibouti depart from Zhanjiang in south China, July 11, 2017. Xinhua/Wu Dengfeng via Getty Images China has focused on economic engagement in Africa — which U.S. officials have criticized as exploitative and sought to counter — rather than the military sphere and has so far avoided formal alliances, Townsend said, adding that he has not seen much “military cooperation build a military capability, in addition to their efforts to provide some security assistance to some of these countries.” However, Townsend and other US officials are not sanguine about all of China’s military activity in Africa. The US knows “for a fact” that China is seeking additional bases in Africa, which “has my attention because of its potential implications for US forces and US security,” Townsend said. “We haven’t seen another base come up. We know they’re trying and negotiating with a lot of countries.” Townsend warned of China’s interest in Africa’s Atlantic coast, telling lawmakers in April 2021 that Beijing had “placed bets” from Mauritania to Namibia. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that US officials had information indicating that China planned to establish a naval base in Equatorial Guinea. A US delegation was sent in response in February. The Chinese “seem to have some traction in Equatorial Guinea, so we’re watching that,” Townsend said Thursday. “That said, we have not asked Equatorial Guinea to choose between us in the West or China. What we are doing is convincing them that it is in their best interest to remain partners with all of us and not choose one over the other.” . Capt. Kenneth Crowe, then-commander of Camp Lemonnier, briefs visiting Japanese officers at the base, Sept. 4, 2019. U.S. Navy/MCS2 Marquis Whitehead US officials continue to scrutinize China’s base in Djibouti. It is located next to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a major chokepoint between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Townsend and others see it as a window into Beijing’s ambitions. China recently inaugurated “a huge jetty” there that is big enough to dock two aircraft carriers or an aircraft carrier and a large-deck amphibious ship, Townsend said. “Why they need that capability there, I don’t know. I suspect they’re thinking very deeply about the future and their future role in that region.” U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Michael Langley, who has been tapped to take over for Townsend, expressed similar concern at his July 21 confirmation hearing. “This is a strategic choke point that must remain free for the freedom of navigation of commerce,” Langley said of the waters around Djibouti. “This is a strategic point that we really have to worry about.”
