China has deployed troops to its first overseas naval base in Djibouti, a major step forward for the country’s expansion of its military presence abroad. The logistics base is the first of its kind for China, which will use it to support “naval escorts in Africa and southwest Asia, (UN) peacekeeping and for humanitarian support,” the statement said. China started building the base in February 2016 in the entrepot on the Horn of Africa, where it will be stationed just a few miles from Camp Lemonnier, the United States’ only permanent base in Africa. China’s defence policy is defensive in nature. “It is certainly the PLA’s first foreign naval base,” it said.

Source: Dhaka Tribune July 12, 2017 09:22 UTC