More Chinese bases abroad? Beijing ‘willing’ to build facilities to protect overseas interests
China will build essential infrastructure to better protect its growing offshore interests, Foreign Minister Wang Yi has announced - a move analysts said suggested Beijing was planning more supply bases around the world.
China will build essential infrastructure to better protect its growing offshore interests, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday.
Analysts said the comments suggested Beijing was planning more supply bases around the world after setting up its first naval supply depot in Djibouti.
“We are willing to try to build some necessary infrastructure and support facilities in the regions of Chinese interests,” Wang said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress.
“It is a pressing task for Chinese diplomacy as the massive scale of China’s interests overseas require effective protection by Beijing.”
Asked about the Djibouti base, Wang said the move was “reasonable, logical and compatible with international norms”, adding that China would not take the old path of expansionism and not be engaged in any form of power politics.
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Zhang Chun, an expert on Africa at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said that if China was planning more overseas bases, they would not be in the US mould.