The 23,000-square-kilometer country of Djibouti is not only a rare deep-water port in East Africa, it also guards the world's most important shipping channel, the Bab El Mandeb Strait.
The Straits of Bab El Mandeb, the main shipping lane adjacent to Djibouti, is a difficult terrain. With a width of 25-32 kilometers, the Bab El Mandeb Strait is divided into two channels, east and west, by the Yemeni island of Perim. The east channel is between Perim Island and Yemen, with a width of 3.2 km and a depth of 30 meters, and is the main waterway from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean because there are fewer islands and reefs in the channel. The western channel between Pirin Island and Djibouti is 28 kilometers wide, with a maximum depth of 323 meters, but the channel has many shoals and reefs, and in the Gulf of Aden area there are also the volcanic islands of the Seven Brothers Archipelago, so the ability of ships to navigate is limited.
Satellite photo of the Straits of Mandeb
And not far from the Straits of Mandeb, the port of Djibouti currently has 15 berths, of which 13 are deep-water berths, including a 200,000-ton oil terminal (3 berths) and a container terminal (2 berths). In recent years, Djibouti has been accelerating port expansion projects with the aim of building Djibouti into a regional shipping center.
Djibouti with a deep French imprint
Djibouti's history has been y marked by France. The French were quick to take advantage of its strategic location, and its acting consul in Aden was granted a lease on the port of Obock in the north of Djibouti in 1859. In 1862, France and the local Alpha people bought the port of Obock, and the French tricolor flag began to fly over the land. However, it was not until 1881, eleven years after the opening of the Suez Canal, that the port of Obock, far from the French mainland, began to play a significant role.
With the gradual disintegration of the Anglo-French ****tube in Egypt and the rise of the Red Sea route as a link between France and the Far East, France quickly established the port of Obock as a coal-refueling depot, which not only provided supplies for French merchant ships and warships, but also became the base of France's expansion in East Africa.
In June 1884, France appointed Léonce Lagarde as the Governor of Obock. Governor-General.
Under Lagarde's impetus, France gradually extended its influence to the northern coast of Djibouti's Tadjourah port and concluded a perpetual treaty of restoration with the local tribes, which ceded all their lands to France, including the port of Djibouti, while the Anglo-French Agreement of 1888 affirmed France's occupation of the whole of Djibouti in the form of a demarcation of the border. In the same year, the Ville de Djibouti (Djibouti City), built by Governor Lagarde, replaced Tadjourah as the seat of the governor, and in 1896 Governor Lagarde incorporated the French-occupied zone as the "C?te fran?aise des Somalis" (French Somalia). In 1946, "C te fran aise des Somalis" became a French overseas territory.
In 1958, a referendum was held on "joining the newly independent Somalia" and "remaining in France", with "remaining in France" being the overwhelming choice. In 1967, French Somalia held another referendum on the same issue, with the majority still choosing to remain in France. Soon after, French Somaliland changed its name to "Territoire fran?ais des Afars et des Issas" (French Territory of Afars and Issas) and on December 31, 1975, the French Territory of Afars and Issas held a referendum on independence. Djibouti became officially independent on June 27, 1977, as a result of the majority choice for independence.
However, after independence, Djibouti still allowed French troops to be stationed there, and diplomacy with France was a priority. The two countries not only signed a defense agreement, but also established a mechanism for routine annual joint military exercises. All government departments, except the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, employ French advisers. And from 2003 to 2012, the rent of the French military presence in Kyrgyzstan amounted to $34 million per year. In addition, the French army has been tasked with training Djibouti's army and police, combating regional extremist forces, anti-piracy and humanitarian relief to help Djibouti's national security.
Djibouti, where the military forces of major powers are concentrated
Djibouti, which is strategically located, has practiced pragmatic diplomacy since the Cold War. In the face of territorial disputes with neighboring Eritrea and instability after the breakup of neighboring Somalia in the 1990s, Djibouti, a small country with a small population, attaches particular importance to its own security. The presence of troops from major powers not only brings it huge amounts of rental income and aid, but also boosts economic growth with its large consumption. Therefore, the Djibouti government is optimistic about the presence of large countries in the country.
In addition, Djibouti has established intelligence **** sharing mechanisms with France and the United States. Foreign troops also help Djibouti train its army and police, fight piracy and extremist forces, and create good conditions for Djibouti to build a shipping center. In addition to the French garrison, which has a long history with Djibouti, the most notable are the U.S. military base and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces base.
Schematic of the French, American and Japanese military bases in Djibouti City
Beginning in the 1990s, the United States provided Djibouti with a variety of economic and military assistance. "After the September 11 attacks, Djibouti actively cooperated with the U.S. Global Counterterrorism Strategy, and the two countries signed an agreement in 2001 allowing the U.S. military to set up a regional counterterrorism command center in Djibouti, known as the "Combined Joint Task Force- Horn of Africa". Horn of Africa, located at Camp Lemonnier. The base is used mainly for counter-terrorism and humanitarian relief. This U.S. military base, located in Djibouti City, south of the Ambouli International Airport, is gradually becoming the core of the U.S. network of drones and monitoring bases in Africa and a large regional air base. U.S. warplanes conducting military operations in Somalia often take off from this base.
The emergence of the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) base in Djibouti is closely related to the fact that in 2009, Japan dispatched its Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) to escort ships to the Gulf of Aden under the Act on the Punishment of Piracy and the Response to Piracy (the "Act on the Punishment of Acts of Piracy and the Response to Pirate Behavior"). At that time, the JMSDF, which had no military base, had to borrow a U.S. military base to rest and resupply, and in April 2009, during the visit of Djibouti's Minister of Foreign Affairs Youssouf to Japan, an exchange of letters was signed to establish the port of Djibouti as a logistical base for the JMSDF. Shortly thereafter, Japan leased a 12-hectare plot of land from Djibouti for the construction of the base. It was during this year that Japan*** provided $35 million in aid to Djibouti, with four bilateral non-reimbursable aid agreements signed amounting to 2.377 billion yen (about $26.4 million), a 174.8 percent surge from 2008.
Putting Japan's Self-Defense Force Base in Djibouti
In July 2011, the Japanese Self-Defense Force base was officially opened. However, the activities and tenure of its overseas bases are still restricted under Japan's Self-Defense Forces Act and other laws. However, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who visited Djibouti in 2013, said that Japan would not only keep the SDF base in Djibouti, but also build a multi-purpose base while cooperating with the U.S. In May 2015, Hiroshi Ito, commander of the 4th Escort Group of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), began to serve as the commander in charge of liaising and coordinating with the multi-national navies involved in the Somali convoy. And this became the first time since the creation of the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) that he served as the commander of a multinational force. By participating in the fight against piracy, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has made a historic breakthrough.
China in Ji to build security facilities have conditions
At present, China in the Gulf of Aden in the Somali waters of the form of naval convoy supply, in addition to stopping at Oman and Yemen and other countries such as port for port supply, but also rely on the integrated supply ship at sea by the help of the supply. However, the civil unrest in Yemen has prevented the navy from resupplying in Yemen.
On Jan. 31, 2013, Zhang Guoqing, Chinese ambassador to Djibouti, led all the staff of the embassy, Chinese-funded institutions in Djibouti and comrades from the medical team and agricultural technology team to the port to warmly welcome the Huangshan ship of the 13th convoy of our navy to Djibouti to replenish supplies for rest and recuperation
Despite the poverty of Djibouti's resources and the shortage of food and water, the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, which is designed and built by China, will be opened for operation next year. Railroad will be opened for operation next year. In the future, products produced by hundreds of Chinese-funded enterprises in Ethiopia will be directly delivered to the port via the railroad, providing a solid material guarantee for the formation. The transnational water supply project to Djibouti, constructed by a Chinese company, will also provide sufficient fresh water for the formation.
More importantly, the Chinese naval formation, which has been involved in escorting Somali waters in the Gulf of Aden since 2008 and evacuating Yemeni nationals this year, has already made countries feel China's efforts to maintain regional peace. And the efforts made by Chinese enterprises to realize Djibouti's dream of becoming a shipping center have won the recognition and welcome of the Djiboutian people. Therefore, China's establishment of a logistics support center in Djibouti can be said to be the unity of "timing, location and people and".