China's Ministry of National Defence announced on December 1, 2016, that a Chinese logistics base in Djibouti is not part of an overseas military expansion. It said the logistics base in Djibouti will safeguard the Chinese military's anti-piracy missions around the Gulf of Aden and Somalia, and provide humanitarian relief. Song Zhongping, a former PLA Second Artillery officer and now a regular military commentator on Phoenix TV, was quoted by the state-run Global Times as saying "Our base in Djibouti is not a military base. Unlike the US and Japan, our base has no weapons stores. It's a logistics supply base which offers food, fresh water, medicine, and relief materials like tents." He added that "We are also building bases to serve the 'Belt and Road' initiative since our bases and ports will bring benefits to the countries. China can build more ports in southern Africa, and some Mediterranean countries". The People's Liberation Army Daily had reported in October that the Chinese base in Djibouti, which will be able to hold 10,000 people, cannot harbor any military ships, and it falls short on target, function and scale to be a military base. .