Namibia dismisses Chinese naval base report

The Namibian government Thursday denied media report that China had proposed to build a naval base at the Walvis Bay port.

Quoting form Namibia's Ambassador to China Ringo Abed, local daily newspaper The Namibian reported Tuesday that a delegation will visit the Southwestern African country to discuss the project.

But the Namibian Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintained Thursday in a statement that no meeting took place last year between the ambassador and an official from the Chinese Ministry of National Defense to discuss construction of the naval base as alleged in the article.

The ministry said there are no discussions between the Republic of Namibia and the People's Republic of China regarding the establishment of a Chinese naval base in Namibia.

This is not the first time that reports of a Chinese naval base in Namibia have surfaced.

In November 2013, the Namibian and Chinese governments were forced to deny reports carried by the same daily paper that they were in talks over a proposed naval base.