China could set up military base in Pakistan, warns US

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 7

China could set up a military base in Pakistan, warns a report of the US Department of Defence released on  Wednesday by the Pentagon in the US.

Titled “Annual report to the Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2017”, it says “China, most likely, will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a long-standing friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan”. The US report said Pakistan had a precedent for hosting foreign militaries.

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The report did not specify what kind of base China could have in Pakistan. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has the provision of making a huge port at Gawadar–some 100 miles west of Karachi. Chinese submarines have used the Pakistan Navy’s facilities at Karachi to dock and refuel.  

In another India-related aspect, the report says the focus areas of the People’s Liberation Army include China’s borders with India and North Korea, East China Sea, the South China Sea. India has un-demarcated 3,488 km long Line of Actual (LAC) which is deemed to be the boundary with China.

In February 2016, Beijing started construction of first overseas military base at Djibouti on the north-eastern African Coast. China will use a mixture of military logistics models, including preferred access to overseas commercial ports to locate its military logistics.

The report hinted at how China was also supplying submarines to India’s neighbours. “Last year, China signed an agreement with Pakistan for the sale of eight submarines. The first four will be built in China, with the remaining four in Pakistan,” the 106-page report said. It listed Bangladesh and Burma–both India’s neighbours–as the other customers of China.

The US report talks about China’s military reforms started in February 2016 saying “these seek to enhance the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) ability to conduct joint operations; improve its ability to fight short-duration and high-intensity regional conflicts at greater distances from the Chinese mainland”.

The PLA, which is the biggest standing Army in the world, established five regionally-based joint theatres, replacing the decades-old ground force-dominated seven military regions (MRs).

China has leveraged its growing power to assert its sovereignty claims over features in the East and South China Seas. China has used coercive tactics, such as the use of law-enforcement vessels and its maritime militia, to enforce maritime claims and advance its interests.

The United States, the report said, would continue to monitor China’s military modernisation, and it would continue to adapt its forces, posture, investments, and operational concepts to ensure that the United States retained the ability to defend its homeland, deter aggression, and protect its allies and partners.