The rise of the Chinese military and Beijing’s growing interest in overseas presence show China’s growing power and influence, and have sparked US warnings about Beijing’s intentions in the Pacific and around the world. The airline, Fujian, is the third China has added in the last decade, but the first fully designed and built in the domestic market. Fujian is also the first to have a flat deck and electromagnetic power catapults, like those of the newest US aircraft carrier, allowing it to launch heavier payloads and more fuel and make it faster. Although not as advanced as the 11 U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, Fujian conventional power shows that China’s navy has overtaken the top of the fleet in terms of capabilities and size, with about 350 warships compared to the US Navy’s 296. A satellite image of the Chinese aircraft carrier Type 003 under construction at a shipyard northeast of Shanghai, May 21, 2022. Planet Labs PBC via AP In the coming years, the design of Chinese ships and the limited experience of their crews will likely keep them in the Western Pacific, where Beijing focuses on Taiwan and its conflicts in the East and South China Seas, but Chinese warships already have a global presence. . Chinese surface ships have been operating “for extended periods far beyond the Western Pacific for years,” Thomas Shugart, a naval warfare expert at the Center for New American Security, told Insider. Beijing recently sent its 41st Special Task Force to the Gulf of Aden, where it has been conducting regular anti-piracy patrols since 2008. These task forces “consist of 3-4 ships and are usually absent for 3 to 4 months, spending most of it time at sea, “said Sugart. Chinese naval teams have also traveled around the globe and sailed to Europe and through the Aleutian Islands. “China has made it clear that one of its top national security priorities in the long run is to be able to maintain the security of its overseas interests as well as the security of its global maritime communication lines,” Sugart said. With no more overseas air and naval bases than China currently has, these carriers “will be needed to achieve the required level of naval control to achieve these goals, especially against a potential adversary such as the US Navy.” “The United States,” Sugart said, “but the last two years have shown that Beijing is looking for this additional base.”

“They came in a lot”

                          Chinese troops at the inauguration ceremony for the Chinese military base in Djibouti, August 1, 2017. STR / AFP via Getty Images

As China expands, it seeks “a stronger” base and logistics network abroad to enable its military to “project and maintain military power over longer distances,” the Pentagon said in a recent report. the army of China. China’s only current overseas base opened in the East African country of Djibouti in 2017. China calls it a logistics facility and is located near waters where its ships are conducting anti-piracy patrols. China’s Djibouti base is also close to a major US facility, and US officials are wary of Chinese activity there. General Stephen Townsend, head of US administration in Africa, told lawmakers in 2021 that China had expanded the base “adding a significant pier that could even support its aircraft carriers in the future”. The opening of the Djibouti base was “a huge departure from their strategy, [which] “In the past, there was no military base abroad,” said Lyle Goldstein, a Chinese military expert at Defense Priorities, in an interview with Insider. “Not only did they go to Djibouti, but they came in a lot,” Goldstein said. “It’s an essential installation. It’s not just symbolic.” China has focused on the Indian Ocean, seeking investment in ports and other facilities related to maritime trade. Chinese sailors waving as they approach Iran’s southeastern port, Chahbahar, December 27, 2019 West Asia News Agency via REUTERS China gets 40% of its fossil fuels from the Middle East. “As a result, they are interested in pursuing close, deep and economic relations with nations adjacent to the Straits of Hormuz and [Persian] “The Gulf itself so they can protect that long-term investment,” Gen. Kenneth McKenzie told lawmakers this spring. “I believe that eventually this will move from an economic to a military component,” added McKenzie, who was then head of US Central Command. In early 2021, U.S. intelligence officials learned that China was secretly building a military installation in the United Arab Emirates, prompting U.S. efforts to halt operations. In late 2021, US officials were again concerned about reports that China was seeking a naval base in Equatorial Guinea. The United States has again tried to thwart the project by sending senior officials to the West African country. While China has focused on economic and diplomatic engagement in Africa, it has worked “to a lesser extent” in the “military sector,” Townsend told lawmakers this spring. “Their military investments are being made in Africa. They have a base abroad there and are working hard to develop other bases there.” A base on Africa’s Atlantic coast would “put them several thousand miles closer to home,” Townsend said at the time. Cambodian Navy personnel at Ream Naval Base during a tour under the Government of the Media, July 26, 2019. TANG CHHIN SOTHY / AFP via Getty Images U.S. officials are also concerned about years of work at the Ream naval base in Cambodia, where China is financing new construction, including the demolition of US-funded buildings. China and Cambodia rushed to the base this month, days after a Chinese official told the Washington Post that “part of the base” would be used by the Chinese military. Both countries deny that Ream will be for China’s exclusive use, but experts say it could support a rotating presence and allow China to project power in the Indian Ocean in a way it could not before because of its proximity. with crossings in the Indian Ocean. The official also told The Post that the Chinese section of the base would host a ground station for China’s BeiDou satellite navigation system, which could help China’s efforts to support its military operations and monitor other armies. In a report on China’s military, the Pentagon said a global network of military logistics networks and military installations “could intervene in US military operations and support offensive operations against the United States” as well as “global military operations.” China’s goals are evolving. “ U.S. Air Force General Jacqueline Van Ovost, head of the U.S. Transportation Administration, told lawmakers this spring that her administration is monitoring “China’s ability to assert power around the world because it is our area of ​​operation.” . “I am watching their investment in ports and their impact on our ability to maneuver around the world, their ability to disrupt and degrade our ability to project and maintain a force in the Pacific,” Van Ovost said.

“What is not fair is not smart”

                          A Chinese Navy ship delivers relief supplies to South Pacific Tonga Island, February 15, 2022. Yin Zheng / Xinhua via Getty Images

China’s apparent interest in foreign military installations comes amid a decade of expanding China’s overseas interests, mainly in the Pacific but increasingly around the world. Interest in bases abroad matches these growing interests, Goldstein said …