China Planning Global Network Of Overseas Naval Bases To Rival US

ANALYSIS – New intelligence and satellite imagery suggest that Communist China is moving ahead with its plan to develop a network of global naval bases. I first wrote about this major Chinese effort in April 2022 in the wake of China’s new beachhead in the Solomon Islands.

Back then, I called these overseas military facilities ‘nonbases’ since China refrained from naming them as such. I noted: “Many believe that China’s People’s Liberation Army is busy establishing an overseas military network, even if they don’t use the term ‘base.’”

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) currently only has one official overseas military base in Djibouti, on the east coast of Africa. That base was completed in 2017.

But now, AidData, a U.S.-based think tank, is confirming China is likely building new overseas naval bases at up to eight possible sites in Asia and Africa as it “looks to protect shipping routes and strengthen resistance to sanctions.”

However, their intent is far more than that. As their naval armada grows exponentially, China intends to rival America’s global maritime reach. And overseas bases are key to that ambition. (RELATED: Is A Big War Brewing In Mideast? What Will China Do?)

Foreign ports operated by a Chinese state-owned company are often a potential precursor for a PLAN military base and fit into Beijing’s “debt-trap diplomacy” – the strategy of drowning poor countries in debt to extract strategic concessions from them, such as basing rights.

In that vein, the port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka is considered the most likely location for the next PLAN base. It opened in 2010 and was financed by a $300 million loan from a Chinese state-owned bank, allowing Beijing to exercise direct control over the facility.

But there are more.

The Guardian reported last week:

PLAN’s future ambitions may be closely aligned with China’s belt and road initiative. Four of the eight bases shortlisted by AidData are in Africa. Although China’s most pressing maritime ambitions are in the South China Sea and the Taiwan strait the report’s authors note that those operations could be conducted “entirely from the Chinese mainland and home naval bases”. PLAN bases farther afield would help China to preserve shipping routes, especially in the event of western sanctions, and gather intelligence.

Beyond Hambantota, Bata in Equatorial Guinea and Gwadar in Pakistan are the three likeliest locations for a Chinese naval base to be constructed in the next two to five years.

Other possible sites include Kribi (Cameroon), Ream (Cambodia), Luganville (Vanuatu), Nacala (Mozambique) and Nouakchott (Mauritania). (RELATED: Military Coup In Niger Rocks Key US Ally In West Africa)

The Guardian added:

On Tuesday, the US satellite imagery company BlackSky released updated images of the Ream naval base in Cambodia, where the US government suspects Beijing is building a facility to boost its naval presence in the region. The base is being built with Chinese assistance, but Beijing and the Cambodian government deny that a People’s Liberation Army presence will be allowed there. Defence analysts say a military base at Ream would give significant strategic benefits to China, including access to the Gulf of Thailand.

This list of bases in some ways mirrors the ‘nonbases’ I noted back in 2022.

Surprisingly, the AidData list does not include the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which the U.S. Intelligence Community in March identified along with Cambodia and Equatorial Guinea as countries where China is “reportedly pursuing potential bases.”

This shows that Beijing’s future basing options aren’t limited to only economically challenged countries.

Globely News reported:

In April, the Washington Post — citing the Discord Leaks — reported that construction had resumed at a military facility being built by China at Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port. A Chinese state-owned company operates a port terminal there.

The leaked U.S. intelligence assessment lists the UAE along with Equatorial Guinea, Cambodia, and Tanzania as countries that are part of China’s “Project 141,” which it says is Beijing’s plan “to establish at least 5 overseas bases and 10 logistic support sites by 2030.”

(Other Project 141 countries include Djibouti, which is home to a known Chinese base, and Tajikistan, a landlocked neighbor of China where it operates a military facility.)

The AidData report also doesn’t include Cuba, with which, the Wall Street Journal reported, China was in talks to build a “new joint military training facility” that would also be part of Project 141. Cuba is right in America’s backyard.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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