Armament overseas: China is looking for new military bases abroad

Created: 06/21/2022, 08:40

By: Christiane Kuehl

China seeks military presence in Pacific: One of two Chinese warships spotted off Australia's north coast in February 2022 © HANDOUT AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE FORCE/AFP

China seeks new overseas military bases.

The country is apparently holding talks with various countries.

The focus is on the Indo-Pacific.

Djibouti/Beijing/Munich – The US has around 750 military bases around the world.

China has only one: in the small state of Djibouti on the Horn of Africa.

In 2016, the People's Republic agreed on the base that it uses today, among other things, for operations by its navy in the Gulf of Aden - for example as part of international operations against pirates.

Beijing also organized the evacuation of Chinese nationals from Libya (2011) and Yemen (2015) from Djibouti.

China innocently refers to the Djibouti base as a "logistics support facility."

According to the Indian defense

, it consists of a fortified compound, which has a military heliport, storage facilities, a military training area, barracks for troops and a military hospital on about 0.5 square kilometers connected to it, a wharf has been expanded where the largest ships and submarines of the People's Liberation Army Navy can dock," it says.

But one can assume that China will also use the base as a strategic bridgehead to Africa.

Demonstrating military might overseas has not been a priority of Chinese foreign policy until recently.

But now Beijing is apparently accelerating the search for additional military sites abroad.

As early as 2015, a military white paper said that China's navy would no longer only serve to "defend nearby waters", but also to "protect the open sea" in the future.

To this end, China has been massively upgrading its entire navy ever since.

The country's third aircraft carrier has just been launched, equipped with the latest technology.

China: Discussions with various countries about military bases

"China is currently focused on increasing its power projection capabilities across the Indo-Pacific — to compete with the United States and expand its own sphere of influence," Helena Legarda, security expert at China Institute Merics, told IPPEN's

.

China is also pursuing its goal of becoming a world power by 2049.

Beijing will most likely try to set up new overseas military bases or other types of facilities in countries in the Indo-Pacific region, Legarda said.

"Recent developments suggest that the Pacific Islands, South Asia, the Gulf and East Africa could be specific target regions - covering all corners of the Indo-Pacific and along key sea routes." 

Logistics support station only?

Opening of the Chinese military base in Djibouti on August 1, 2017 © STR/China OUT/AFP

However, these regions are not the only ones China is concerned about, says Legarda.

"Beijing has also reportedly approached Equatorial Guinea to set up a facility in the Atlantic."

The small country is in West Africa.

According to a report by the British magazine The

US officials believe China has contacted at least five countries directly since 2018 and considered a dozen others as potential hosts: Namibia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Cambodia, and the Pacific states of Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.

In April, China signed a security agreement with the islands northeast of Australia that would allow naval visits and could also prepare for the construction of a military base in the archipelago.

Both sides deny that.

On Friday, Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare assured Australia's new foreign minister, Penny Wong, that there would be no permanent Chinese military presence on the islands.

Australia remains Solomon Islands' "preferred security partner".

China: Concrete steps in Cambodia

China is said to have already signed a secret contract with Cambodia for the use of the Cambodian naval base in Ream on the Gulf of Thailand.

The US military has been warning of the project since 2020.

Construction of a maintenance workshop, two piers, a dry dock, a slipway and quay facilities for larger ships recently started in Ream in the presence of the Chinese ambassador, financed with Chinese money.

There, too, both sides deny plans for a military base.

reports , citing US officials

, that secret military construction has also begun in the Emirates .

There is no confirmation for this either.

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Chinese foreign policymakers always emphasize the peaceful nature of the agreements.

Nevertheless, there is great concern in the USA and Europe.

And US allies like Japan, Australia and India don't want Chinese military bases in their region either.

They suspect that China's commercial development of ports could in some cases be a cover for later military use.

, Beijing can

already rely on a global network of over 90 ports that are partly or fully owned or operated by Chinese companies - and where naval ships can refuel, for example.

Xi Jinping regulates foreign operations that 'are not war'

China's initiatives are notorious for their lack of transparency.

This also applies to the latest guidelines from state and party leader Xi Jinping on military operations overseas.

These allow China's armed forces abroad to deploy disaster relief, humanitarian aid or peacekeeping operations - in short, all operations that "are not war" ("military operations other than war"/MOOTW).

This also includes measures to safeguard national sovereignty.

The state -run

wrote: "The People's Liberation Army troops could now protect China from spillover effects in the event of regional instability, as well as secure important transport routes for strategic materials such as oil, and defend China's investments, projects and personnel abroad."

Other countries do things like that too.

But the timing of the decree and the wording are troubling at a time of Russia's "special operation" in Ukraine -- especially in light of Taiwan, which China sees as a national interest rather than an international conflict.

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China: South Pacific sphere of influence

The South Pacific has increasingly become China's strategic focus – not just the Solomon Islands.

There is also speculation about Kiribati, another tiny Pacific country.

There, on a tiny, boomerang-shaped island, is an airstrip from World War II that China is said to be interested in.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Kiribati right after the Solomon Islands on his recent Pacific trip.

But Kiribati was focused on trade and tourism opportunities with China and was not interested in a security deal, Reuters reported, citing an official from the mini-state.

In general, Wang Yi's trip was unsuccessful in terms of security policy: A security agreement with ten Pacific states in the style of the agreement with the Solomon Islands failed due to the resistance of several countries.

So the die has by no means been cast in the region.

China's military bases: decision by the host countries

"The potential challenges that an expanded Chinese military presence in these regions would pose for Europe and the US are clear," says Helena Legarda

.

Ultimately, it is up to the host countries to decide whether to allow a Chinese base or some other type of facility, the expert explains.

"But Europe and the US can try to change the calculations of these host countries by becoming — or remaining — more attractive partners and strengthening their economic and security engagements with countries across the Indo-Pacific."

In fact, in recent weeks, Australia, the United States and other allies have made increased efforts to attract the island states.

And China does not have its partners to itself: Australia has also had a security agreement with the Solomon Islands for years.

And in Djibouti, in addition to the Chinese, military personnel from the USA, France, Italy and Japan are also stationed.

It is uncertain whether China's actions in Djibouti can serve as a blueprint for other military bases.

There, according to

, Beijing "had capitalized on its investments in Djibouti's commercial port at Doraleh to finalize the deal to create an exclusive military facility in 2016."

China had also funded a $4.5 billion Ethiopia-Djibouti rail link and other development projects.

Built with Chinese funding: railway line from Djibouti to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia (archive image) © Sun Ruibo/Xinhua/Imago

Bharat Shakti

is currently observing a similar crackdown in the Comoros, a bitterly poor Indian Ocean island nation northwest of Madagascar.

There, China has replaced the former colonial power France as the most important development partner.

For example, the China Road and Bridge Corporation is developing the main shallow port at Moroni into a deep-water port.

The portal's experts therefore suspect that China has the archipelago in mind for a future military site.

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