The Wall Street Journal has reported that China is looking to create its first permanent military presence on the coast of Equatorial Guinea.
The tiny African nation is on the west coast of Central Africa.
Malabo, capital of Equatorial Guinea, is some 144 kilometres from Calabar, Cross River State; 225 kilometres from Port Harcourt, Rivers State all in south-south Nigeria and 672 kilometres from Nigeria’s commercial nerve, Lagos.
The report based on classified US intelligence stated that though Washington officials did not describe Beijing’s plans in detail, they said China’s presence on Africa’s Atlantic coast would enhance the possible threat to the US as it would give Chinese warships a place to rearm and refit opposite the East Coast.
The Journal reported that the commander of US Africa Command, General Stephen Townsend, informed the American senate in April that China’s “most significant threat” would be “a militarily useful naval facility on the Atlantic coast of Africa.”
“By militarily useful I mean something more than a place that they can make port calls and get gas and groceries. I’m talking about a port where they can rearm with munitions and repair naval vessels,” Townsend added.
The Journal further reported that Jon Finer, President Joe Biden’s principal deputy national security adviser, travelled to Equatorial Guinea in October in an effort to convince President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo and his son vice president Teodoro ‘Teodorin’ Nguema Obiang Mangue to reject China’s proposal, the newspaper reported.
The 79-year-old Obiang is the longest-serving president in the world, having ruled his country with an iron fist since August 1979.
In recent months, tensions between China and the U.S. have risen amidst human rights issues, the COVID-19 pandemic and concerns about Taiwan.
China currently has a military base in the East African nation of Djibouti. Built in 2016, China says the “support base” will be used for peacekeeping and humanitarian aid in Africa and West Asia.
It will also be used for military co-operation, naval exercises and rescue missions.
