(Credit: youtubeCGTN)     The People’s Republic of China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier.

By Gary Raynaldo    DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

WASHINGTON  –  PENTAGON –   The top commander of  U.S. Africa Command told lawmakers on Capital Hill that China’s  naval base near the entrance to the Red Sea in Horn of  Africa  nation Djibouti is large enough to support  aircraft carriers.  U.S. Africa Commander Army Gen. Stephen Townsend told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the People’s Liberation Army was expanding its existing naval installation adjacent to a Chinese-owned commercial deep-water port and also seeking other military basing options elsewhere on the continent. The general said China has completed construction of a pier at its naval base in Djibouti near the entrance to the Red Sea.  The base, formally opened in 2017, was developed to support the Chinese anti-piracy mission off the coast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden. 

“Their first overseas military base, their only one, is in Africa, and they have just expanded that by adding a significant pier that can even support their aircraft carriers in the future. Around the continent they are looking for other basing opportunities,”

-Gen .Townsend told the HASC.

Credit: africom.mil)   Army Gen. Stephen J. Townsend, Commander of U.S. African Command testifies  before the House Armed Services Committee regarding national security challenges and U.S. force posture in the Centcom and Africom areas of operation and related policy issues, on Tuesday, Apr. 20, 2021 in Washington D.C. 

 Commander Says Africa Is Too Important for Americans To Ignore 

Africa is a fascinating continent of tremendous possibilities but also tremendous dangers, and the U.S. ignores the nations of Africa at its own peril, the commander of U.S. Africa Command said during an interview, according to the Department of Defense.

“China and Russia don’t ignore Africa, and that alone should say something,” U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend said.

Africa has 13 of the 25 fastest growing economies in the world, Townsend said. In a time of climate change, Africa has 60% of the arable land on the globe. “This fact alone should show how important Africa is for the world,” he added.  “An African leader once said to me ‘A drowning man will reach for any hand,”  Townsend said.  “They are drowning in poverty and will take help from whomever it comes from.”    He said this offers a perfect opening for Russia and particularly China.

The United States, actually, is the preferred partner on the continent, Townsend said. “We were never a colonizing power in Africa, and we are regarded as an honest broker by many nations,” he said. “In addition, our values are their values.”