China has extensive economic interests abroad and is seeking a global military presence to protect them and to project power - including in the South Pacific.
This story is the fourth in Newsweek's"Covert China" series exploring how China is working to expand its influence in order to achieve global preeminence by 2049.
While Beijing dismisses suggestions it wants overseas bases for its armed forces, the U.S.
"In recent years, China's national interests have been expanding and extending overseas," Yan wrote."The People's Army must closely follow the process of expanding the country's overseas interest and enhance its ability to perform diversified military tasks in a wider space."U.S. Department of Defense report
But its strategic significance within the Pacific is not in doubt, as became plain during World War II. A rising China feels constrained by those chains. In recent years, it has sought not only to break them—its claim over Taiwan is part of that effort—but to secure its place anywhere in the world that it sees fit.
"In the world of overseas basing, minor military facilities like communications posts or logistics facilities are relatively common," said Stephen Watts, a co-author with Cristina Garafola of a recent report on China's overseas base plans byMajor bases—like in Djibouti—with thousands of foreign uniformed military personnel are much more rare, Watts said.
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