China is also trying to restrict American influence in the Latin American region, considering it Washington’s backyard, through China holding talks with Cuba to establish a joint military base on the island, which is only about 150 kilometers from American territory. The United States of America also accuses Chinese companies of helping to establish secret naval bases in various places around the world, and that these Chinese companies own or supervise at least one terminal in 96 ports in 53 countries, and these terminals will, from the American point of view, serve as a pillar. Essential to the operations of the Chinese army, with the American fear of (Chinese dual use of these ports), meaning the possibility of employing Chinese forces that protect Chinese economic interests abroad to perform some tasks of a military nature by using those sea ports that it supervises and manages in most countries and continents ports of the world.
At a time when the United States of America considers all ports in the Atlantic Ocean as its strategic arena of influence, and believes that the Chinese military presence there represents a serious threat to American national security. Therefore, China is looking at several sites to restrict and monitor the expansion of American and Western influence along the coasts and ports of the Atlantic Ocean, to include a number of islands in the Atlantic Ocean, specifically the “Portuguese island of Terceira”, which is one of the most important islands of the Azores on the Atlantic Ocean of “Terceira Island”, as part of the state of Portugal, is one of the most important maritime sites nominated as a naval base for China, as it has an important port for the Chinese, and there is also an air base, and the base known as “Lages Field” is operated jointly between the American forces and their Portuguese counterparts, and from Here, the Chinese military forces set their sights on this Portuguese port on the island of Terceira, as a headquarters for the Chinese naval forces directly facing the areas of influence of the United States of America on the Atlantic Ocean.
There is also a port financed by China on (Abaco Island, as part of the Bahamas), and although according to estimates, the “Port of Abaco” is essentially useless from a commercial point of view, the meaning of its falling into the hands of Beijing, and its success in establishing a naval base there, is this means that China owns two naval bases near the US state of Florida, so the US Department of Defense (the Pentagon) is trying to work to prevent China from penetrating the Bahamas, which is close to the US maritime border, specifically the US state of Florida. If China succeeds in this, Chinese aircraft will be able to patrol the northern and central regions of the Atlantic Ocean, and thus control air and sea traffic routes between the United States of America and its European ally. Beijing will also be able to prevent American ships from reaching the Mediterranean. This would reduce the current American pressure on China in its direct areas of influence in the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, and the South China Sea.
On the other hand, Beijing is concerned with maritime security in West Africa in order to protect its trade and international trade, which has prompted it to strengthen its maritime presence on the west coast of Africa, as part of its strategic ambitions to protect its economic interests in that region, which reinforces Washington’s doubts about the possibility of establishing Beijing established a naval military base in the country of Equatorial Guinea on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, as was rumored in March 2022. Chinese state-owned companies have established more than 100 commercial ports in various countries of the African continent within the framework of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative. The United States of America is currently trying to dissuade and prevent the President of the African State of Gabon, Ali Bongo, from providing a naval base to China in the country of Gabon, as Gabonese President “Ali Bongo” agreed in August 2023 to his Chinese counterpart “Xi Jinping” to allow Beijing to deploy military forces. On the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in the country of Gabon.
The Chinese naval force is also now working to survey naval sites on the western coast of Africa, starting from the state of Mauritania in the north to the state of Namibia in the south, in preparation for establishing Chinese naval military bases there. This prompted the US administration to send a clear message to Equatorial Guinea and several other African countries, not to involve themselves in the global competition between Washington and Beijing. For this reason, the United States of America took several steps to consolidate its relations with Equatorial Guinea, such as the American offer of assistance after a series of explosions destroyed a military base near the coastal city of Bata in Equatorial Guinea. The US First Deputy National Security Advisor “John Finer”, also visited Equatorial Guinea in October 2021, on an official mission to persuade Equatorial Guinean President “Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo” and his son and Crown Prince, Vice President Teodoro, whose name is “Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mange” to reject China’s initiatives. Also, after Fenner’s visit, the son of the President of Guinea “Obiang Mangue”, in his capacity as the de facto head of the security forces in Equatorial Guinea, announced that the White House had appointed him as “the first interlocutor to manage relations between the two countries”. The importance of the ports of the African continent to China lies in the fact that they overlook the crossroads of the world, in addition to their passage through several important strategic crossing points, such as the Strait of Gibraltar, the Strait of Sicily, the Red Sea, the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, and the Mozambique Channel.
The most dangerous matter for the American and Israeli sides, as a close ally of Washington, remains what was revealed by US Central Intelligence officials, regarding China actually beginning to build a secret military base in a Chinese-run commercial port in the United Arab Emirates, which facilitates the process of China’s control over Israel’s interests and the United States of America, and affects the Israeli normalization processes in the countries of the Arab Gulf region, due to this continuous and extended Chinese presence there, especially in light of the intense competition between Washington and Beijing at various levels. This led to the intervention of the administration of US President Joe Biden to try to convince the Emirati authorities to stop building this naval military base for China, at least temporarily, for the time being.
In this context, senior Chinese military analysts and Chinese think tanks, especially military ones, discussed all scenarios of China’s potential naval military foreign bases around the world, and Chinese defense research was active in the field of (improving China’s external logistical facilities to accomplish various military tasks), the most important of which was the “Chinese High Seas Forces Strategy” in 2019, which hosted China’s maritime capabilities and the necessity of expanding China’s military and naval bases in every region around the world. The importance of Beijing’s expansion to establish a naval military base on the west coast of Africa was recommended as part of the Chinese state’s efforts to confirm its maritime presence in strategic waterways by intensifying its investments in seaports in West Africa.
The importance of Chinese strategic interests in the West African region and its desire to establish many commercial ports and naval bases, as an important playground for the policies of major powers, lies in the fact that it overlooks the western coast of the African continent to the west on the Atlantic Ocean, which means that China is geographically close to the United States of America as a competitor. Major and strategic for China. The West African region also includes about 16 African countries, making it a significant voting bloc, and China can employ it in the future to protect its strategic interests in the international system, especially the issues of American and Western interference in the affairs of Taiwan and Hong Kong, human rights issues, and others. China also contributes to achieving stability in the West African region, including the Sahel and the Sahara, through its various economic projects and activities, due to the escalation in the activity of terrorist organizations there, which represents a good opportunity for China to get involved in addressing security issues that represent an important gateway to the growing Chinese influence in the region.
Many international intelligence and military estimates and reports indicate that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army will soon open a military naval base in Africa, specifically on the Atlantic coast. As part of China’s efforts to become a global military power capable of projecting its power globally. The locations that are rumored to be spreading in this regard as the headquarters of a potential Chinese naval military base include (Equatorial Guinea, Angola, and Namibia). Hence we notice the payment of executives in Chinese state-owned companies, known as (SOE) abroad in order to deploy more capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army in Africa.
Africa alone hosts more than one hundred thousand Chinese companies, as well as one million Chinese immigrants, and more than 260,000 Chinese workers who are expected to increase, most of whom work within the framework of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, as a Chinese strategy to connect global economic corridors with China around the world. Therefore, China was keen to open a naval base of a military nature in the State of Djibouti, which directly overlooks the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, as a strategic corridor for maritime traffic passing through the Suez Canal. China is currently carrying out extensive searches for the possibility of establishing a naval base on the west coast of the continent of Africa, and then Chinese warships could, in the near future, carry out regular patrols off the east coast of the United States of America. China’s naval base in Djibouti, for example, has a dock capable of docking and transporting aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, according to estimates by the American leadership and Israeli intelligence on the African continent, which may lead to restricting American and Israeli influence at the expense of China.
Hence, we can say that the fears of the United States of America regarding building Chinese naval bases lie in the fact that China is not only building military bases like the United States of America, but that the Chinese model for these military and naval bases is completely different, given that they combine civilian and security elements together, which is This angers Washington, its Israeli ally, and the West. Given the value of the funds allocated by state-owned Chinese banks for port projects, and the strategic importance of the infrastructure these ports contain, in addition to the strength of relations between China and the countries in which these ports are established, this is definitely what harms American national security from this America point of view and its Israeli ally.