China is building its first overseas naval base and military outpost at the small port town of Obock in the Republic of Djibouti on ground originally intended for use by the U.S. Army.

The Chinese base on a 364,000 square meter (90 acre) plot will house supply stores; barracks for a small force of Chinese marines or Special Forces; maintenance facilities for aircraft and ships and weapons sites.

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Obock or Obok is located on the northern shore of the Gulf of Tadjoura, where it opens out into the Gulf of Aden.

China refers to the Obock naval base as a "support facility" and said they don't have plans of building large bases such as those the U.S. military favors. It also denies the base is ratcheting up tensions with the U.S. whose Camp Lemonnier, the largest U.S. military base in Africa, is located only eight miles away.

Camp Lemonnier currently houses over 4,000 U.S. troops and is used for Special Forces and drone operations against jihadist groups in the region.

The Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China claims its Obock base will "better uphold international responsibilities and duties, and to protect China's legal interests."

China's push into the world stage starting in Africa is part of President Xi Jinping's foreign-policy priorities, based on the strategy of "Steadily advancing overseas base construction."

As part of this strategy, The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) first used commercial ports that were built or financed by Chinese companies for resupply and recreation. The Obock naval base is the first departure from this standard model.

Ironically, the base was first developed by the U.S. in 2009 under the government of then Djiboutian Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed Dileita. In 2014, however, the new government led by pro-China President Ismail Omar Guelleh kicked-out the Americans and welcomed the Chinese.

The increasingly despotic Guelleh, who is relentlessly suppressing dissent, has received billions of dollars from China for Djibouti's development. China is also financing a two proposed airports, a railroad, a port terminal expansion, fuel and water pipelines, a natural gas liquefaction plant and highway upgrades.

Some media reports claim China also funded Guelleh's campaign for an unprecedented fourth term in office after he amended the Constitution that previously limited a President's service to two terms.

Tagschina, Djibouti, Obock, Camp Lemonnier, President Ismail Omar Guelleh