Djibouti base upgrade may offer PLA window on foreign military Middle East operations
China has upgraded its military base in Djibouti with communications equipment a US think tank says is “likely enhancing” the country’s ability to collect signals intelligence – potentially giving the PLA a window on foreign military operations in Djibouti and the wider Middle East.
Beijing opened the Djibouti facility in 2017, describing it as a support base for naval escort, peacekeeping and humanitarian missions. It has since become a hub for Chinese naval operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
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The upgrade could be particularly significant as US Air Force budget documents describe nearby Chabelley Airfield as the only location in East Africa from which armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets are authorised to operate.
Meanwhile in August, Japan began flying P-1 maritime patrol aircraft from its Djibouti facility for counter-piracy and Middle East information-gathering missions.
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