The US Department of Defense is on record as saying that China “is pursuing additional military facilities to support naval, air, ground, cyber and space power projection”.
Indeed, Pentagon officials added that Beijing is “very likely already considering and planning for additional military bases and logistics facilities to support naval, air and ground forces projection”.
With two million members, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the world’s largest military. Yet, for most of its existence, the PLA has had an inward and landward focus.
It is only in the past eight or so years, since Chairman Xi Jinping took over the reins, that the country has become more extrovert in its military aspirations.
Recent media coverage has focused on Equatorial Guinea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as sites for potential Chinese military installations.
In early December, media reports alleged that China was trying to build its first Atlantic military base in Equatorial Guinea. The likely site is Bata, a Chinese-built deep-water commercial port.
General Stephen Townsend, commander of the US military’s Africa Command, testified in April that the “most significant threat” from China would be “a militarily useful naval facility on the…
