The Africa -China Economic Forum & Exhibition which opens on Tuesday in Djibouti devotes the inevitable rise of the Middle Kingdom in the Gulf of Aden. The theme of this forum, “defense and security in Africa” bother Paris and Washington.
The African anchor of the imperial strategy of the Silk Road, Djibouti is home to French and American bases and, recently, the first Chinese base outside China.
The Chinese choice results from what some have called the “checkbook diplomacy” put forward by China to impose its supremacy on the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, through which almost all the commercial traffic between Asia passes. and Europe.
Financing and turnkey completion of the Djibouti-Ethiopia railway is one aspect of this checkbook or infrastructure diplomacy.
Idem of the planned launch this week of the Free Zone Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) and that while the dispute between this small country with the giant Emirati Dubai Port World is still pending before the courts of London. China is today the first creditor of Djibouti and nothing excludes, say the experts, that the first tensions occur in 2019 when the first repayment of debt deemed “colossal”.
This Chinese commercial activism coupled with the installation of a military base worries Paris and Washington, two tutelary powers of this small country and the Gulf of Aden where a large part of the flow of hydrocarbons passes through the world.
For example, on May 23, a hearing of the French Commission for Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Armed Forces before the Senate focused on the relevance of maintaining or not a French military presence. The
The first French base of prepositioned forces (1,450 men) perpetuates a presence that dates back to the Napoleonic era but is overwhelmed by Chinese gigantism. Washington, which has 4,000 men and major naval and air forces, is closely following Beijing’s surge, calling on Djibouti to entrust all port infrastructure to China.
China’s One Belt One Road Initiative Provides $ 1 Billion for Infrastructure and Other Projects along Trade Routes Connecting China to Europe, Russia, Central and South Asia East and Africa.
