The US is working on a military and economic aid package for Gabon as part of a deal to keep the Chinese military out of the African nation, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
Sources told Bloomberg that the agreement would include training Gabon’s special forces and $5 million in funding for the country’s democratic transition. The report didn’t say how much the US is willing to spend on the military assistance.
The new US aid package for Gabon hasn’t been finalized and is expected to be unveiled when Brice Oligui Nguema, a military officer acting as Gabon’s “transitional president,” will visit Washington either at the end of September or early October.
US military officials have been warning for years that China is seeking to establish a military base on Africa’s Atlantic coast. China has a naval base in Djibouti on the east coast of Africa, which marked its first foreign military base.
The US has about 750 military bases worldwide, including many near China, but sources told Bloomberg that a Chinese base on the Atlantic Ocean is a red line for the US even if it’s as far away from the continental United States as Gabon, which lies on the equator.
US officials claim that China has been attempting to establish a military training facility in Gabon, which they fear could lead to a permanent base. China has other ways of spreading its influence on the African continent, mainly by helping fund infrastructure projects, and the US has also been attempting to push back against those efforts.
🔗SOURCE ➡️ Antiwar.com
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