Why is China building a military presence in Africa? What are China's goals in breaking from its long-held policies to open a military base in Djibouti?
Dr. Lina Benabdallah, assistant professor of Politics and International Affairs at Wake Forest University, explains, "In 2017, the Chinese government launched or inaugurated a base, its first base ever abroad. And it was a base that located in Djibouti. In the beginning, it was framed as a logistics base [...] After a lot of negotiations with with Djibouti's government officials, China announced and inaugurated its first base ever abroad. This was a milestone for Chinese political scene because up until that point, China, PRC, did not have any bases abroad, based on the non-interference principle and based on the belief that China will not interfere in domestic politics in other countries. China had not prior to that opened or have showed interest in opening bases."

This interview was recorded in 2020.

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