The Islands Society can confirm that a foreign military officer has shared new information that the Chinese military was provided official authorization to conduct live-fire exercises at the Maryam Training Area, Djibouti. However, the French military did not receive the notification of authorization because of a technical issue that delayed the reception of a fax sent by the Djiboutian Government until earlier this morning.
The Islands Society can now confirm that the Japanese Government has renewed the land lease contract for the Japan Self-Defense Force Base in Djibouti. This includes not only the original plot of land but also an additional plot of land to the north-east of the current base. The additional land measures approximately 3 hectares. And, the effective date of the renewal is 20 November 2017.
Press Release Confirming the Expansion of the Japan Self-Defense Force Base in Djibouti
Note: DefenceWeb recently published an in-depth article on the expansion of the Japan Self-Defense Force Base by the Director of the Overseas Military Bases Initiative at the Islands Society. Please find it here.
