Military Bases with Chinese Characteristics

On 1 December 2011, a Chinese military delegation, headed by the Chinese Defense Minister General Liang Guanglie quietly visiting the Seychelles and he signed a bilateral agreement to set up a Chinese naval base in the Seychelles for counter-piracy operations. This was followed by Hu Jintao’s December 6th pronouncement; while addressing the PLA Navy (PLAN) he said that PLAN should make “extended preparations for warfare in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security”. The statement was immediately denounced by the US that demanded more transparency on Chinese intentions.  Chinese claimed misinterpretation of the original statement. Apparently, there is no equivalent word for transparency in Mandarin. Ridiculing the Western criticism, one Chinese analyst Mao Xiaogang made a bellicose statement:” It is common to see some irresponsible hype and smears around the world aimed at China’s military development, especially the so-called transparency matter. China’s announcement at such an opportune moment is transparent enough”.

The “outing” of the Chinese naval base by the Indian press on December 12th  forced China to issue a “non-denial” denial. China acknowledged the establishment of a “supply and recuperation facility” in the Seychelles. The Seychelles comprises of 115 islands and is the smallest African country with a population of 85,000 and an army of only 500. The Seychelles government acknowledged the establishment of a Chinese naval base ostensibly to crack down on piracy. The Chinese Ministry of Defense tried to sanitize this  in a statement: “According to escort needs and the needs of other long-range missions, China will consider seeking supply facilities at appropriate harbors in the Seychelles or other countries”. China acknowledged that it already has “re-supply facilities” at harbors in Dijbouti, Oman & Yemen since 2008 when China sent its first naval convoy to Gulf of Aden apparently in an anti-piracy measure.

Chinese assertions that this move did not equate to establishing overseas military bases has few takers. We see a pattern of China expressing commercial or economic interests in a territory (land, sea, air, space) as Chinese assets, sending PLA soldiers there to safeguard its commercial interests and claiming sovereignty subsequently.  Professor Shen Dingli from Fudan University has openly advocated the need for China to establish military bases overseas.

China calls its military bases as “supply and recuperation facilities”. Of Course, Chinese overseas military bases are very different from the US or  Russian military bases because they are indeed part of “extended preparations for warfare in order to make greater contributions to safeguard national security”. As per Chinese rhetoric these supply facilities will never be used for aggression because they have the essential “Chinese characteristic” of serving the Chinese core interests of safeguarding the “divine” Chinese Ocean sovereignty in the Indian Ocean!

‘String of Pearls’ is a long-term strategy that is sequentially unfolding. The façade of trade-oriented commercial ports will be replaced by loud, vociferous and triumphant announcements of China’s core interests requiring conversion to naval bases. There was no “objective evidence” that China’s first aircraft carrier when purchased in 1998 from Ukraine would be deployed as a naval asset. China had deceptively and fraudulently claimed that it would be converted into a floating casino!  Currently the Chinese aircraft carrier is undergoing sea trials. So much for the “so-called transparency issues”. Although China has rejected Pakistani exhortations to “please develop a naval base at the Gwadar port”; that is bound to happen in next few years. Chinese “peace and harmony”  rhetoric and its strategic actions are always diametrically opposite.  The predictable pattern is that of initial stonewalling, hostile denials, indignant & abusive comments followed by gradual but late triumphant proclamations of  Chinese core interests demanding strong action against the enemies.

Pursuing modernization, China has become de facto number two naval power. The PLA navy’s goal is to have a “Thousand Ships Navy”. This  stated “TSN” Goal is to further Chinese hegemony in the Indo-Pacific region and exploit the mineral & hydrocarbon wealth in the international seabeds. China has already signed an agreement with the UN backed International Seabed Authority to gain exclusive rights to explore poly-metallic sulfide ore deposits in 10,000 square-kilometers of international seabed in Indian Ocean for the next 15 years.

China is a rising hegemon that is no longer ashamed of asserting its imperialistic ambitions.  China’s list of core interests is rapidly expanding.   Assertion of China’s Ocean sovereignty as a new core interest issue has been vociferously advocated in last few years. China has disputes with the ASEAN countries about the ownership various atolls and islands and their hydrocarbon and mineral potential. It refuses to deal with these claims in multi-lateral fora and wants to bully the smaller countries bilaterally. China also warned India against exploring hydrocarbon drilling in collaboration with Vietnam in South China Sea. China’s blockade of Taiwan strait in 1996 and raining missiles across the strait is an indicator of Chinese strategic response pattern.  In a belligerent article published in the Beijing Daily, Mao Xiaogang articulates this: The PLA Navy will forever act in accordance with its duty in regard to China’s Ocean sovereignty and interests with no fear and flinch upon any interference and will ensure the safety of national interests by virtue of its own distinct views and powerful strength”.

Indo-Tibetan Border has been heavily fortified and militarized by China. China has built permanent military-cum-civilian infrastructure in the so-called Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) which should be aptly called China-Occupied Tibet (COT).  Infrastructure development in the Tibet has military applications. China has built five air ports along the Indo-Tibetan borders.  The Beijing-Lhasa rail-road connects the Chinese heartland with the Tibet China further plans to extend this Beijing-Lhasa rail-road into Nepal and indeed very close to Indian borders. PLA routinely conducts high altitude military exercises  in the occupied Tibet. There are frequent incursions of the PLA soldiers inside Indian territory across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with repeated damage to Indian civilian & military infra-structure in both Eastern and Western sectors.

Though China has denied it consistently, PLA has at least 10,000 troops stationed in the Pak-Occupied Kashmir (POK) in the northern territories. These developments amount to China de facto establishing an army base in the POK. Presence of Chinese troops in POK indeed poses a military and security threat to India as POK is an illegally occupied territory by Pakistan.

Some strategic experts have rightly cautioned that the carefully choreographed Dragonese Dance may culminate in a full-fledged attack on India. India’s political leadership and the Defence Ministry must be alive to this threat and seek to take corrective action without any further delay.

Dr. Aditynajee is the President of the Council for Strategic Affairs, New Delhi, India