We may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. US intelligence believed that China was planning to build a permanent military presence in the nation sandwiched between Cameroon and Gabon. Such a facility would be significant, as it would give China its first base in the Atlantic Ocean. This would mean that Chinese warships would be able to rearm and refit opposite the East Coast of the US, a threat that is setting off alarm bells at the White House and Pentagon.
In October, the US national security adviser Jon Finer visited Equatorial Guinea on a mission to persuade President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to reject China's overtures for such a project. President Joe Biden s administration had told the Mbasogo government that Chinese activity would raise national security concerns. The report speculated that China would consider building a military facility in the port city of Bata. Beijing had built a deep-water commercial port in Bata.
General Stephen Townsend, the commander of the US Africa Command, warned the Senate in April about the risk of China having a naval facility on the Atlantic coast. He said that this is more than a place where they can make port calls and get gas and groceries. I'm talking about a port where they can rearm with munitions and repair naval vessels. The Pentagon report on China's military modernisation warned that China was considering military facilities in Kenya, Tanzania and Angola. In 2017 China opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti, on the Indian Ocean. The expansion of infrastructure has allowed the facility to accommodate ships such as submarines and aircraft carriers.
China's plans for a new facility on the Atlantic Ocean shed light on the rapid expansion of its navy. The Pentagon report said the People's Liberation Army Navy PLAN was now the world's largest navy, with an overall battle force of approximately 355 ships and submarines, including approximately 145 major surface combatants. A facility on the Atlantic Ocean would have significant practical and symbolic implications for nations such as Kenya, Tanzania and Angola, as it would challenge US hegemony over the region. There is a facility in Equatorial Guinea that is expected to provide options to deploy forces to protect Chinese investments in the western part of Africa. Aung San Suu Kyi trial: Myanmar's leader sentenced to four years REPORT : 'The real clown is Macron! In 2009, China upgraded a commercial port in Equatorial Guinea, the biggest city on the mainland, as a result of Britons' REVEAL Macron signing huge 14 billion arms deal with UAE INSIGHT. The capital, Malabo, is located on an island about an hour's flight from the mainland. Chinese state-owned companies have built 100 commercial ports around Africa in the past two decades, according to Chinese government data. American diplomats in Mauritania, along Africa's northwest coast, have advised local authorities to not allow Beijing to use a Chinese port for military purposes, according to a U.S. official.