Every strong country needs military presence in every corner of the world to monitor the activities of other countries and to make strong military bases which will help in case of any conflict. We are talking about China’s overseas military bases in this article.
For nearly two decades, China has been denying rumours that its People’s Liberation Army plans to set up overseas bases. As of today, Beijing has four overseas military bases.
China’s overseas military base in Djibouti:
China built its first overseas military base—in Djibouti. According to reports, the Djiboutian government is about $1.5 billion in debt to Beijing. China officially opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa.
The fact that China’s first overseas base is in Africa reflects Chinese’s expanding engagement with the continent where several of China’s first major moves as a global power have taken place.
Djibouti is located near the Suez Canal, through which as much as 10% of the world’s sea-borne oil trade passes through every year. It’s also part of China’s One Belt One Road” project, a massive network of transport links that roughly follows the ancient Silk Road.
China’s overseas military base in Argentina:
China created another military base in Argentina. It is said that China has a mysterious space station in Argentina.
Beijing signed a deal with Argentina to build a powerful 16-story antenna in the Patagonian region of the South American country, promising to include a visitors’ centre to showcase its civilian purpose.
The station’s stated aim is peaceful space observation and exploration and, according to Chinese media, it played a key role in China’s landing of a spacecraft on the dark side of the moon in January.
China’s space program is run by its military, the People’s Liberation Army. The Patagonian station is managed by the China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control General (CLTC), which reports to the PLA’s Strategic Support Force.
China’s overseas military base in Myanmar:
China has established several naval bases and intelligence collection stations in Burma. China still has a strong strategic interest in developing its bilateral relations with Burma but, based on this analysis, it would appear that China’s presence in Burma, and its current influence over Burma’s military regime, have been greatly exaggerated.
The rapid construction on the island indicates a strong possibility of Chinese establishing a military base in the Indian Ocean region. Chinese ambitions to acquire a military base in the Maldives can be explained via the String of Pearl’s theory.
India is not leaving any stone unturned to turn the tide in its direction in the Indian Ocean region. The Indian Ocean has the potential to become the new theatre of conflict between India and China.
China’s overseas military base in Tajikistan:
Beijing has established a more robust overseas logistics in Tajikistan. China’s security assistance to Tajikistan has grown rapidly over the past few years.
In 2009, China surpassed the United States as Africa’s largest trading partner. According to reports, Recent reports indicate that China is building several new high-security complexes at the Gwadar Deep Sea Port (at western-end of Pakistan’s coastline in Balochistan).
Pakistan owes its “all weather friend” China at least $10 billion debt for the construction of the Gwadar port. The strategic Gwadar Port in Balochistan province on the Arabian Sea is being built by China under the multi-billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and is considered to be a link between Beijing’s ambitious One Belt, One Road (OBOR) and Maritime Silk Road projects.
