The Liaoning carrier group with destroyers and frigates during a naval exercise in the western Pacific. Photo: AFP
Gordon Watts, Asia Times: Ports in a storm ‘stealthily’ expand China’s naval presence
‘States question whether China’s Belt and Road infrastructure investments are driven by national security interests,’ a report reveals
Behind the maze of shipping ‘superhighways,’ stretching from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and beyond to the Pacific, will be a network of ports.
At least 15 to be precise, dotted around strategically vital regions and crucial to China’s grandiose US$8 trillion Belt and Road Initiative.
Rolled out in a fanfare of hype by President Xi Jinping in 2013, this massive construction program has become an extension of Beijing’s global ambitions and the centerpiece of its economic foreign policy.
It has also raised growing concerns about debt and security issues during the past two years, which have been highlighted in numerous academic reports, including Harbored Ambitions: How China’s Port Investments Are Strategically Reshaping the Indo-Pacific.
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WNU Editor: Take it from one who has been dealing with the Chinese for almost 35 years. All major projects that involve China are watched over by Beijing, and all of these projects are implemented if they fulfill the following goals. To promote China, to bring wealth and prestige to China, and to complement/enhance/and secure long term Chinese political and national security concerns. To think otherwise is being very naive.
