China: Small Footprint in Seychelles?

As a follow on to my earlier post regarding Seychelles offer of some sort of anti-piracy base to the Chinese at Somali Pirates: Seychelles asks China for counter-pirate "presence"

Reuters reports "China considers Seychelles port offer, denies base plan":

"According to escort needs and the needs of other long-range missions, China will consider seeking supply facilities at appropriate harbours in the Seychelles or other countries," the ministry said on Monday, according to the China Daily.

"This approach is transparent, and there's no cause for worry," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters, referring to those discussions.

"China has no plans for establishing military bases abroad," said Liu, adding that he had not heard of any ideas of stationing personnel or aircraft on the Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands.