China is continuing to build up its diplomatic, economic and military power in order to challenge the United States.
The communist nation has never apologized for being the source of the disastrous COVID-19 pandemic that has now killed over 3.3 million people.
In fact, the Chinese government tried to silence doctors who were speaking out against the outbreak, and has worked to shut down any real investigation of how it happened.
Now they’re working on ramping up their military reach, with new reports that China has been secretly working to build a major new navy port on the west coast of Africa that will give them access and power in the all-important Atlantic Ocean.
The news has US and NATO leadership very concerned.
China’s Naval Strategy Expands
China has been planning to increase the reach of its navy for decades as part of a long-term plan for dominance. They want somewhere on the Atlantic where they can stage aircraft carriers and submarines that will reach into areas formerly dominated by the US and NATO.
Now, the top US Africa commander General Stephen Townsend is sounding the alarm bells about China’s plans, saying the country has been meeting with various African nations to reach an agreement for a naval base.
“They’re looking for a place where they can rearm and repair warships,” Townsend said, adding that having this asset would be very “useful in conflict” for China.
“Beijing seeks to open additional bases, tying their commercial seaport investments in East, West and Southern Africa closely with involvement by Chinese military forces in order to further their geo-strategic interests,” Townsend warned.
Townsend is in charge of AFRICOM, so he has a handle on what China is up to, and he said that the communist state is very close to completing a naval port in Djibouti located near the Horn of Africa.
This completion now has China focused on the Atlantic side of Africa where they want to get a foothold for expanding their reach.
“They’re casting their gaze to the Atlantic coast and wanting to get such a base there,” Townsend warned, noting that the military presence in Djibouti is intended as part of China’s strategy to “project power across the continent and its waters.”
In testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee at the end of April, Townsend detailed how China has pushed through over $60 billion USD to boost African nations’ infrastructure and economies, expanding their soft power and alliance-making.
As Townsend noted, China is surging ahead of the US in Africa “as they seek resources and markets to feed economic growth in China and leverage economic tools to increase their global reach and influence.”
Xi Focus: #XiJinping attends the commissioning ceremony of three naval vessels, the Changzheng-18, the Dalian, and the Hainan https://t.co/DxQw9HRzZE pic.twitter.com/Q3pKPFBlVs
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) April 24, 2021
‘Americans Need to Know What’s Coming’
Bradley Bowman is an analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and he’s also sounding the warning on China and its naval plans, echoing Townsend’s comments with a stark prophecy.
“It’s just a matter of time before you have regular surface and subsurface Chinese naval vessels in the Atlantic,” Bowman said, adding that “Americans need to know that’s coming and the question is what do we do between now and then to get ready.”
Djibouti already has over 2,000 Chinese military members at the navy base there and they are working to get personnel, equipment and all sorts of naval capability set up all along the African coast.
“They have arms and munitions for sure. They have armored combat vehicles. We think they will soon be basing helicopters there to potentially include attack helicopters,” Townsend explained about the Djibouti naval base, which is also only a few miles from the more than 3,000 US personnel stationed at Camp Lemonnier in the Horn of Africa.
