China wil militaire basis aan kust Atlantische Oceaan
China wil een eerste militaire basis aan de kust van de Atlantische Oceaan, en heeft daarvoor Bata in Equitoriaal Guinee op het oog.
De USA is daar erg verontrust over, en probeert nu druk te zetten op de regering van het Afrikaanse landje (30 vierkante kilometer) om dit te blokkeren. De WSJ berichtte vandaag:
Classified American intelligence reports suggest China intends to establish its first permanent military presence on the Atlantic Ocean in the tiny Central African country of Equatorial Guinea, according to U.S. officials.
The officials declined to describe details of the secret intelligence findings. But they said the reports raise the prospect that Chinese warships would be able to rearm and refit opposite the East Coast of the U.S.—a threat that is setting off alarm bells at the White House and Pentagon.
Earlier this month General Stephen Townsend, commander of the U.S. Africa Command,told the Associated Press that China covets a major naval base in the Atlantic Ocean, presumably along the African west coast. (Portugal’s Azore Islands also come up from time to time as a potential Atlantic hub for Chinese vessels.) Chinese leaders are “looking for a place where they can rearm and repair warships,” opined Townsend. “That becomes militarily useful in conflict.” Now that the People’s Liberation Army has ensconced itself at Djibouti, in the western Indian Ocean, Xi Jinping & Co. are “casting their gaze to the Atlantic coast and wanting to get such a base there.”
Op de vraag naar het waarom werd toen het volgende antwoord gegeven:
Seldom does Xi confide in me, but two candidate explanations stand out. One, Chinese sea power is going global. Chinese Communist magnates are true believers in the logic of maritime strategy and sea power as explicated, most notably, by Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan over a century ago. For America’s sea-power evangelist, commercial access to important trading regions is at once the purpose and the engine of maritime strategy. It helps a seafaring society make itself wealthy and in turn helps fund a naval protector for the supply chain. Seapower—the implement used to execute maritime strategy—is a product of commerce, naval and merchant shipping, and overseas bases. Merchantmen need seaport access to unload freight to help satisfy the wants and needs of foreign customers. Ships of war need it for repairs, stores, and logistical support of all types.
En ook:
Beijing can hope to distract Washington from the Western Pacific by mounting a standing presence in the Atlantic.
Waarbij nog komen kan:
In effect they can open a new theater in the long-term strategic competition vis-à-vis the United States by emplacing a naval squadron in the New World. Expect China to expand its search for basing rights into the Caribbean Sea to really rub it in. Venezuela or Cuba, anyone?
Waarom Bata in Guinee? Daarop is het klassieke antwoord: omdat het bestaat, waaraan je nog kunt toevoegen: omdat het geschikt is.
En het is dichter bij de USA dan iemand in Washington bevallen kan.
American officials who spoke to the WSJ indicated that the reports “raise the prospect that Chinese warships would be able to rearm and refit opposite the East Coast of the U.S.—a threat that is setting off alarm bells at the White House and Pentagon.”
The China Belt and Road Initiative is changing the economic landscape across Africa. This Earth Intelligence Spotlight by Maxar Technologies reveals #insightsfromspace on #china #africa #financeandeconomy. Please check it out and…https://t.co/Y2t0R73dak https://t.co/g532vZHSRf
— Tony Frazier (@tfraz06) June 21, 2019
The WSJ report features satellite imagery and statements of US officials strongly suggesting the Chinese have an eye on Bata in particular, the country’s largest mainland city, on the coast. The report describes that this location “already has a Chinese-built deep-water commercial port on the Gulf of Guinea, and excellent highways link the city to Gabon and the interior of Central Africa.”
Zie voor meer informatie ook ons dossier Zuid-Chinese Zee.
Vanuit strategisch oogpunt een slimme plek. Maar of ze hun schuldenberg daarmee omlaag krijgen. Dat laatste betwijfel ik
Niets aan de hand.
Sjoerd Sjoerdsma en Hanneman ten Broeke lossen dit zooo op.
Gaat u rustig slapen.
Als ze daar dan ook nog een Aliexpress, Banggood en Geekbuying warehouse openen, dan vind ik het prima.
De chicoms weten het .Kolonisatie door middel van schuldencreatie.
Tsja, zo gaan die dingen. Het ene empire verzwakt en een ander neemt het over. Zo was er ooit een tijd dat de Nederlanders de Portugezen uit hun favoriete plekjes verdreven. Laten we hopen dat het zonder een majeur incident gebeurt, ofschoon ik daar een hard hoofd in heb.