Chinese State media reported that the communist nation’s military dispatched troops for its first ever overseas military base in Djibouti.
According to the report, the troops are for peacekeeping and humanitarian aid in West Asia and Africa.
The base will be used for military cooperation, naval exercises and rescue missions.
Chinese military departed from Zhanjiang in China’s southern Guangdong province last Tuesday.
The dispatch of troops from the communist nation could be seen as a counter to US military bases all across the world, even though China claims that it is not after ‘global control.’ The state press also pointed out that the US, Japan, and other nations also have military bases in Djibouti.
In 2015, China pledged to invest $60bn into African development, and they embarked on their first foreign peacekeeping mission in South Sudan. Now, just two years later China deployed troops to its first ever overseas military base.
Interestingly enough, the dispatch of troops comes after Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, claimed that China could replace the United States on the World Stage should Donald Trump withdraw the USA from global arrangements.