Intelligence Research Observatory
Invisible Dragon-Chinas Military Abroad, Official, Unofficial and Ghost Bases
Methodology-Open Source Research & Intelligence Analysis
Research Assistance-Charlie Stevens
Analysis-S.A. Cavanagh
Warfare Psychology & SIGINT Specialist–LIZZIE Smith M.A.
Image of Chinese deep dredging for Naval base reclamation-South China Sea-Courtesy US Navy News
Analysis Notes
China does not distinguish between commercial, state and military affairs. Beijing has invested 30 billion dollars in 78 seaports in 46 countries. China strategically acquires sea ports, airports and important real estate for its Belt & Road project; which are undoubtedly for use by the Chinese military apparatus, to project power and influence, or take direct action should there be a regional conflict affecting state interests. China often negotiates a strategic clause, for military access, as part of Beijings debt trap diplomacy. China buys, leases or builds expensive infrastructure in poor countries; when the poor country cannot repay the upgrades or loans, Chinese interests, takes over operations, thus controlling valuable-strategic properties. Biejings, hostile takeovers allow the state to access and raid weaker countries sovereign assets, infrastructures, dams, and railways. China then exercises powerful influence and control over the indebted country.
In similar moves, China has built or leased Private Military Contractor bases throughout the world to protect its citizens and assets abroad, and while China denies this is part of Beijings state security apparatus, China would unquestionably deploy PLA troops if needed. China has no problem with troops posing as civilians or local security guards when conducting state operations. This modus operandi has been demonstrated openly by Chinas maritime militia with much success in grey zone operations.
China will continue to scout and secure more bases throughout the world as part of its grand strategy to become a superpower with reach and influence. Intelligence analysts believe, the United States and allied governments should be pro-actively engaging with countries that appear most at-risk for hosting a permanent Chinese military presence, or supporting the PLA’s global logistics architecture, with hopes of undermining Chinese ambitions abroad. De Faakto analysis indicates while this is good strategy, it is expensive and priorities should be established identifying the best strategic countries to block Chinese bases. Concurrently the US and allies should make equal or greater strategic acquisition that use carrier diplomacy. If NATO and AKUS can build and deploy more naval carrier groups with submarines & expeditionary troops (Marines), this will offer greater flexibility, and a rapidly deployable power projection apparatus. While carrier groups are expensive to operate they are one of the most effective options available to counter Chinese aggression & ambition.
Map Image Showing Chinese Military Bases Abroad-Courtesy of FDD Visuals
Where does China have Ghosts & Dragons on the ground?
De Faakto Caveat–The following list of bases, some are confirmed with PLA, PLAN, & PLAAF assets and troops in place. Others are outposts or pseudo bases that are operational, but unofficial, claimed by Beijing to be temporary in nature, with paramilitary or police forces stationed in place. Many listed below are options for future Chinese bases & ports, this is because China has invested many resources, with one goal; to persuade local governments to allow Chinese militarization, in strategic territory. Some of the listed countries, have not decided to allow China to set up as of yet. Some countries outright deny Chinese military partnerships, only to confirm the existence of a clandestine relationship. The USA has appealed diplomatically to some of the countries not to allow Chinese bases that would undoubtedly destabilize regional security, some remain undecided or simply refuse to divulge the details of Chinese influence.
USA-Ghost Bases
Image Courtesy of All Sides-Via-New York Post
- Chinese companies are scooping up farmland, often near US military bases
- It is suspected China may have launched some of its spy balloons from these properties, most likely the properties will be used to monitor US military installations (News Nation, 2024)
- Recently Canada shut down Beijings ghost bases, staffed with secret police in major Canadian cities
Cuba
Image Courtesy of Airbus
Cuba-Spy-Espionage Stations
Port of Santiago-In 2019, a Chinese state-back company completed the modernization of the port of Santiago de Cuba with a $120 million loan to Cuba, it is unlikely Cuba will be able to service the loan
Bejucal-Listening station
- Cuban intelligence gathering facilities in Bejucal, Watao and Calabazar-these are Cuban Intelligence gathering stations, there is a satellite base Cuba likely shares with PLA-as Cuba has no satellite capability
- El Salao (east of Santiago de Cuba)-signals intelligence NEW BASE under construction (Miami Herald, 2024)
- China has been negotiating the creation of a new joint training facility on the Caribbean island nation of Cuba, creating concerns it could lead to the stationing of Chinese troops in the waters off the US (Al Jazeera, 2024)
Images Courtesy of CSIS & Maxar
Djibouti
Images Courtesy of the Globe Mail & Business Insider
Djibouti City
People’s Liberation Army Support Base
- China has one base on the African continent which opened in Djibouti, the Horn of Africa in 2017, The overt goals of this installation are anti-piracy and freedom of navigation, part of a strategy aimed at securing trade corridors alongside the Mozambique-South Africa route.
- Houthi militants’ current attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea and a renewed attack by pirates on shipping in the waters off Somalia have once again validated the strategic value of Djibouti. Furthermore, in the 2011 Libya crisis, China had to protect some 35,000 citizens with very few resources on the ground; a failing that ostensibly justified an African base (US Institute of Peace, 2024)
Nacala, Mozambique
Image of PLA Navy hospital ship leaving China for mission in Mozambique Courtesy of SCMP
- China’s port investments in Mozambique have not been on the same scale as in other locations, neither have they been insignificant. China is popular with elites and the general population, and it sponsors a significant amount of the country’s media content. The question is: Where to site a base? Maputo is the largest port, but it is run by the government and Dubai Ports World. China has funded construction in Nacala would make the most sense for the PLAN-Navy—it has seen sizeable Chinese investment and is a deep-water port. (Foreign Policy, 2023)
Equatorial Guinea
Image of Port of Bata Equitorial Guinea which will likely host PLANavy Courtesy of Google Earth
- Unnamed US officials are reported to have warned (2021) that Beijing plans to establish a permanent military installation in Equatorial Guinea-specifically a navy port in the Atlantic-China has loaned $500 million which Equatorial Guinea is unable to payback, this denotes Chinas debt trap methodologies (European Council on Foreign Relations, 2021)
Kribi, Cameroon
Image of Kribi Port, Cameroon Courtesy of Cameroon Concord News
- The Kribi port, Cameroon-China has invested significantly in Kribi Port & U.N. General Assembly voting and overall geopolitical positioning that aligns well with China. Beijing has successfully insinuated itself into the political life of the country. (Foreign Policy, 2023)
Tajikistan
Gorno-Badakhshan
Map Courtesy of Washington Post Image Courtesy of Maxar
Image thought to be Chinese secret military base in remote Tajikastan Afghan Border
Paramilitary outpost
- China’s military presence in Tajikistan is not set to increase dramatically for the time being, the outpost will not be operated by members of China’s army or police, but rather by the Tajik police force
- China’s People’s Armed Police (PAP) is already in charge of a different Tajik-based outpost located near the Afghan border and the 76-kilometre land-border separating China from Afghanistan. PAP is a paramilitary organization with a primary role in Central Asia to liaison with other security forces in domains like information-sharing and counter-terrorism. Though there is little information on the current PAP-run outpost, satellite images and press interviews indicate the outpost is constituted by a few buildings and training grounds that have been active for less than five years (ispionline, 2021)
- July 2024, citing satellite imagery, the London-based Telegraph newspaper reported that China is building a “secret military base” in Tajikistan (Eurasia Review, 2024)
Cambodia-Indo-Pacific
Sihanoukville Province
Image Courtesy of Naval Technology -Chinese Clandestine-Cambodia-Ream Naval Base
Ream Naval Base
- Ream Naval Base, China has funded a broad expansion project that has been carefully watched by the United States and others over concerns it could become a new outpost for the Chinese navy on the Gulf of Thailand. The gulf is adjacent to the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety, and would give easy access to the Malacca Strait, one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. Both Cambodian & Chinese governments deny, Chinas military presence constitutes a military base, citing joint training exercises in Naval warfare (NBC, 2024)
- in June 2022 The Washington Post reported that China was constructing a naval base in Cambodia to accommodate the People’s Liberation Army Navy. This clandestine project, presented as security-related aid to Cambodia, has since been confirmed by Cambodian authorities. The presence of Chinese warships at Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, as reported by Newsweek in December of the previous year, underscores the deepening military ties between Cambodia and China, marking a significant shift in Southeast Asia’s strategic landscape.
- Although details about the extent of the PLA’s engagement at the Ream Naval Base remain undisclosed, the development has prompted serious concerns from the U.S. State Department (News Week, 2024)
South China Sea
Image of Spratly Islands Courtesy of Jamestown Foundation
- China has fully militarized at least three of several islands it built in the disputed South China Sea, the Spratly chain islands, Fiery Cross Reef, Mischief Reef, Subi Reef, & Hughes Reef. Arming the man made islands with advanced anti-ship and anti-aircraft missile systems, laser and jamming equipment and fighter jets, dredged deep harbours and military grade runways, an increasingly aggressive move that threatens all nations operating nearby, according to top US military commanders (Guardian, 2022)
Images below Courtesy of Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative -CSIS
Image of Fiery Cross Reef
Image of Mischief Reef
Image of Subi Reef
Image of Hughes Reef
Pakistan, Namibia, Kenya, and Argentina
- Bases that support China’s space and satellite operations, the PLA’s Strategic Support Force (SSF) also operates tracking, telemetry, and command (TT&C) stations in these locations
- Strategic Support Force (SSF). The SSF is a theatre command-level organization established to centralize the PLA’s strategic space, cyberspace, electronic, information, communications, and psychological warfare missions and capabilities. (USA Government, 2024)
Chinese Bases being scouted
- U.S. Defense Department contends the PLA may have also made basing overtures to three additional countries in recent years
Image Courtesy of Japan News
Map Courtesy of Washington Post
Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Namibia
- Vanuatu-Vanuatu’s government, which was hit for weeks starting in November by a cyberattack, did not respond to multiple requests for comment. The Solomon Islands has said there will never be a Chinese military base there – though China has confirmed the signing of a security agreement. (News Week, 2022)
- Solomon Islands-Signed in April 2022, the China-Solomon Islands security agreement has raised concern among Western countries about China’s growing influence, its potential military presence, and the challenges such developments would pose for the United States and its allies’ dominance of Oceania. While the signed document has not been made public, a draft leaked in March 2022 provides for the deployment of Chinese “police, armed police, military personnel and other law enforcement forces” to the Islands. Although it does not mention the establishment of a military base
- The Defense Department has further identified at least 13 additional locations that the PLA has likely considered to support its overseas military logistics and basing infrastructure. The Biden administration dispatched delegations to two of them — the United Arab Emirates in 2021 and Equatorial Guinea in 2022 — in an attempt to dissuade both governments from hosting an official Chinese military presence.
Image of Chinas String of Pearls-Indian Ocean- Courtesy of CIMSEC
Nouakchott, Mauritania
Images of Mauritania Military Hardware-delivered from Beijing-Courtesy of Military Africa
- Mauritania is removed from the logjam of PLAN options in West and Central Africa; Nouakchott is more than 2,000 miles northwest of Bata, for example. The West African nation is also significantly closer to Europe and chokepoints such as the Strait of Gibraltar—roughly only two days’ steaming at 20 knots. At the 2020 U.N. Human Rights Council hearing on China’s new security law for Hong Kong, 53 countries supported China, including Antigua and Barbuda, Cambodia, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka—and Mauritania. (Foreign Policy, 2023)
Sri Lanka
Hambantota Port Sri Lanka is under control of Beijing-Image Courtesy of AFP
- China has collectively sunk more than $2 billion dollars into Hambantota—the most of any port anywhere in the world. Beijing exercises direct control over the facility. Coupled with its strategic location, the popularity of China among elites and the population, and Sri Lanka’s alignment with China in U.N. General Assembly voting, Hambantota is a top candidate for a future base. (Foreign Policy, 2023)
Resources
Beijing Is Going Places—and Building Naval Bases-Foreign Policy-Alexander Wooley and Sheng (2023) Zhanghttps://foreignpolicy.com/2023/07/27/china-military-naval-bases-plan-infrastructure/
Map Shows Countries Where China Seeks Overseas Military Base-News Week-Aadil Brar (2024) https://www.newsweek.com/china-overseas-military-bases-us-intelligence-1878183
Taiwan warns of ‘enormous’ Chinese bases near its S.China Sea holding-Reuters-Ben Blanchard (2024) https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/taiwan-warns-enormous-chinese-bases-near-its-schina-sea-holding-2024-03-20/
Is China building a new spy base in Cuba? Here’s what a new report-Miami Herald-NORA GÁMEZ TORRES (2024) https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article289694199.html
Satellite images show growing Chinese military presence in Cuba: CSIS-Ryan Bass (2024) https://www.newsnationnow.com/world/china/satellite-images-chinese-military-presence-cuba-csis/
China negotiating new military training facility in Cuba: Report-Al Jazeera-AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES (2024) https://ecfr.eu/article/chinas-new-military-base-in-africa-what-it-means-for-europe-and-america/
Not a Military Base: Why Did China Commit to an Outpost in Tajikistan? -ISPI-Giulia Sciorati (2021) https://www.ispionline.it/en/publication/not-military-base-why-did-china-commit-outpost-tajikistan-32177
China Increasing Its Military Presence In Tajikistan – Eurasia Review-Paul Goble (2024) https://www.eurasiareview.com/19072024-china-increasing-its-military-presence-in-tajikistan-analysis/
China promises ‘friendship’ as two warships dock in Cambodia-NBC-Associated Press (2024) https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-promises-friendship-two-warships-dock-cambodia-rcna152952
Is China Eyeing a Second Military Base in Africa? -USIP-Henry Tugendhat (2024) https://www.usip.org/publications/2024/01/china-eyeing-second-military-base-africa
China has fully militarized three islands in South China Sea, US admiral says-The Guardian-Associated Press (2022) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/21/china-has-fully-militarized-three-islands-in-south-china-sea-us-admiral-says
Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative/CSIS-CHINA ISLAND TRACKER- Staff (2024) https://amti.csis.org/island-tracker/china/
Military and Security Developments Involving The Peoples Republic of China-US Government-US Department of Defense-Areport to Congress (2023) https://media.defense.gov/2023/Oct/19/2003323409/-1/-1/1/2023-MILITARY-AND-SECURITY-DEVELOPMENTS-INVOLVING-THE-PEOPLES-REPUBLIC-OF-CHINA.PDF
China Outshines U.S. as Global Scramble for Bases Heats Up-News Week-Didi Kirsten Tatlow (2022) https://www.newsweek.com/2023/01/13/china-outshines-us-south-pacific-global-scramble-bases-heats-1769150.html
China-Solomon Islands Security Agreement and Competition for Influence in Oceania-Georgetown University-Tarcisius Kabutaulaka (2022) https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2022/12/02/china-solomon-islands-security-agreement-and-competition-for-influence-in-oceania/
MAPPING THE EXPANSION OF CHINA’S GLOBAL MILITARY FOOTPRINT-FDD Visuals-Craig Singleton (2024) https://www.fdd.org/plaexpansion/
