中国将在吉布提建首个海外军事基地

China is set to install “a few thousand” troops and staff at its first ever overseas military base, the first permanent overseas deployment by Chinese armed forces.

中国将在有史以来的首个海外军事基地部署“几千名”作战人员和工作人员，这是中国武装部队第一次在海外部署永久性力量。

The new naval facility will sit in the same city as America’s own sprawling African military headquarters in Djibouti, the Horn of Africa country where the US has a 4,500-strong base running counter-terrorism operations across the region. Japan, which also has its only overseas military base in Djibouti, already faces a tense stand-off with China over territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

新的海军基地将与美国庞大的吉布提非洲驻军总部处于同一座城市里。在位于“非洲之角”的吉布提，美国拥有一处驻扎着4500人的基地，执行地区反恐作战任务。日本唯一的海外军事基地也在吉布提。日本和中国已因东中国海领土争端而陷入紧张对峙。

The move underscores concerns that China, historically inward-looking and non-interventionist, is making a policy shift to assert itself as a global military power. Djibouti occupies a vital strategic position at the southern entrance to the Red Sea from the Indian Ocean, with 30 per cent of the world’s shipping passing close by.

中国此举加剧了人们的担心：向来着眼国内、对外采取不干预态度的中国，开始转变政策，把自己确立为一个全球军事强国。吉布提占据着由印度洋通往红海的南部入口，战略位置至关重要，经由此地附近的航运量占到全球总量的30%。

China has already vowed to near-quadruple its contribution to global peacekeeping operations, to 8,000 troops, and is explicitly building up aircraft and submarine capabilities in pursuit of what it frames as a new responsibility to help assure global peace and stability.

中国已誓言把其对全球维和行动的贡献提高近三倍，将维和常备部队增至8000人，并公开加强飞机和潜艇实力，以履行其所称的帮助确保全球和平与稳定的新责任。

So far China has said little about its own intentions in Djibouti, referring to the project in low-key terms such as characterising the new base as “logistical facilities” for naval rest and resupply, including for its contribution to anti-piracy operations. It has offered no information on staffing numbers.

迄今为止，中国对吉布提基地的目的所说甚少，提到吉布提军事设施时非常低调，比如把新基地称为供海军休整与补给的“后勤设施”，其功能包括为打击海盗的行动提供支援。中国并未提供有关新基地人员数量的任何信息。

But in an interview with the Financial Times, Djibouti’s foreign minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf for the first time spelt out the likely scale of China’s presence in the small, strategically important country that sits at the mouth of Bab el-Mandeb Staits that lead to the Suez Canal.

但在接受英国《金融时报》采访时，吉布提外长马哈茂德•阿里•优素福(Mahmoud Ali Youssouf)首次披露了中国在这个小国的军事存在的可能规模。吉布提面积虽小，但地理位置具有战略重要性，位于通往苏伊士运河(Suez Canal)的曼德海峡(Bab el-Mandeb Staits)入口处。

While the US in 2014 agreed to nearly double the rate it pays Djibouti to $63m a year to rent its site, Mr Youssouf told the FT that China will pay Djibouti $20m a year for their location, with likely “a few thousands” of military and administrative personnel. Mr Youssouf said the Chinese, like the US, signed a 10-year contract with an option to extend for a further 10 years.

2014年，美国同意把付给吉布提的军事基地年租金增加近一倍，至6300万美元。优素福告诉英国《金融时报》，中国每年向吉布提支付的基地租金将达2000万美元，基地可能驻扎“几千名”作战人员和行政人员。优素福表示，中国跟美国一样，与吉布提签订了10年期合同，并拥有续签10年的选择权。

“The terms of the contract and agreement are very clear and they are the same for each and every country that requested military presence in Djibouti,” Mr Youssouf said. He added the main purpose was for China to use the naval base to protect its national interest — monitoring its merchant vessels passing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and for naval refuelling and restocking.

“合同与协议的条款写得清清楚楚，对每个请求在吉布提部署军事存在的国家都是相同的，”优素福说。他接着表示，中国的主要目的是使用该海军基地保护自己的国家利益——监控通过曼德海峡的中国商船，以及进行海军燃料和物资的补给。

Tom Kelly, US ambassador to Djibouti, told the FT that managing the existence of both a US and a Chinese base in the same country “will be a challenge for all involved”. Concerns range from eavesdropping on activities at the US base, much of whose wide-ranging anti-terror operations are covert, to fears China may develop a string of bases to give them strategic control over waterways leading into Europe.

美国驻吉布提大使汤姆•凯利(Tom Kelly)向英国《金融时报》表示，对部署在同一国家内的美中两国军事基地进行管控，对“有关各方来说都将是一次挑战”。人们的担忧包括美国基地活动被窃听（美军范围广泛的反恐行动大多是秘密进行的）、中国或许会发展一系列基地对进入欧洲的水道进行战略控制等等。

Mr Youssouf said that China, which is scheduled to build a second major airport in the country, would have as much right to use drones as the US and French.

优素福称，中国计划在吉布提建设新的大型机场，并将拥有与美国和法国相同的使用无人机的权利。

“The Americans have enough technology, enough fighter aircraft, enough drones [here] to control each and every piece of this land and even beyond,” said Mr Youssouf. “Why should the Chinese not have the right to also use those materials . . . to preserve and protect their interest in the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb. Why?”

“美国人（在这里）拥有足够的技术、足够的战斗机、足够的无人机来控制这里乃至更多地区的每一寸土地，”优素福称，“中国人为什么不该拥有同样的、使用这些资源的权利……来维持和保护他们在曼德海峡的利益？为什么？”

China’s foreign ministry declined to respond to requests for comment on the terms of the new base.

中国外交部拒绝回应就新基地相关问题置评的请求。

China has instead framed the coming base in terms of an effort to showcase itself as a rising but responsible global player, supporting existing anti-piracy patrols and peacekeeping missions on the African continent, which is a hub for Chinese investments. China has sent navy ships to patrol the Gulf of Aden off Djibouti and Somalia since 2008, the first time China had sent naval ships on a mission outside its territorial waters in more than 600 years.

相反，中国有关这座新基地的措辞旨在展示自己是新兴但负责的全球事务参与者，为现有的反海盗巡逻和非洲大陆上的维和任务提供支持。非洲大陆是中国的投资集中地。2008年以来，中国派遣了海军舰只在距吉布提和索马里不远的亚丁湾(Gulf of Aden)巡逻，这是逾600年以来中国首次派遣海军舰只在其领海以外地区执行任务。

Last November, a spokesperson said of the proposed naval “support facility” that it “will help China’s military further carry out its international responsibilities to safeguard global and regional peace and stability”.

去年11月，一名发言人称，拟建的海军“保障设施”“对于中国军队有效履行国际义务，维护国际和地区和平稳定具有积极作用”。

Mr Youssouf and senior port officials said the base would combine a naval jetty and fenced-off location at the same site as the capital’s forthcoming Doraleh Multipurpose Port, still under construction. The new port is part-financed and part-owned by China Merchants Holding, a part state-owned company and the largest public port operator in China.

优素福及港口高级官员称，该基地将与吉布提首都即将建成的多哈雷多功能港(Doraleh Multipurpose Port)位于相同地点，既有海军码头也有隔离场所。多哈雷多功能港由中国招商局国际有限公司(China Merchants Holdings)提供部分资金、并持有部分股权。招商局国际为部分国有，是中国最大的公共港口运营商。

China is also set to lend more than $1bn at non-concessional rates for other infrastructure projects to help transform Djibouti’s $1.5bn economy, including a water pipeline and a new railway link with landlocked, populous Ethiopia.

中国还将为其他基础设施项目提供逾10亿美元的非优惠利率贷款，帮助吉布提总值15亿美元的经济实现转型。相关项目包括给水管道，以及连接吉布提和内陆人口大国埃塞俄比亚的新铁路。