It is not only the world’s biggest ports that have attracted Chinese investments. Sources: Lloyd's List Intelligence FT research In Sri Lanka, Greece and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, Chinese investment in civilian ports has been followed by deployments or visits of People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels and in some cases announcements of longer term military contingencies.Ģ015 Includes estimates of container traffic through ports in which Chinese and Hong Kong companies have investments, even minority stakes The Gwadar template, where Beijing used its commercial know-how and financial muscle to secure ownership over a strategic trading base, only to enlist it later into military service, has been replicated in other key locations. “Control of the sea,” Mr Mahan wrote, “by maritime commerce and naval supremacy, means predominant influence in the world because, however great the wealth of the land, nothing facilitates the necessary exchanges as does the sea.” Relations were also dented over Mr Trump’s warm overtures toward Taiwan, which China regards as a breakaway province.Ĭhina understands maritime influence in the same way as Alfred Thayer Mahan, the 19th century American strategist. Rex Tillerson, the Trump nominee for US secretary of state, said on Wednesday that Washington should block Beijing’s access to the islands. As US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take power, strategic tensions between China and the US are already evident in the South China Sea, where Beijing has pledged to enforce its claim to disputed islands and atolls. The emergence of China as a maritime superpower is set to challenge a US command of the seas that has underwritten a crucial element of Pax Americana, the relative period of peace enjoyed in the west since the second world war. Its coastguard has the globe’s largest maritime law enforcement fleet, its navy is the world’s fastest growing among major powers and its fishing armada numbers some 200,000 seagoing vessels. Its shipping companies carry more cargo than those of any other nation - five of the top 10 container ports in the world are in mainland China with another in Hong Kong. Investments into a vast network of harbours across the globe have made Chinese port operators the world leaders. An FT investigation reveals how far Beijing has already come in achieving that objective over the past six years.Ī Pakistani naval guard at Gwadar port which was financed, built and is now owned by China © Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images Gwadar is part of a much bigger ambition, driven by President Xi Jinping, for China to become a maritime superpower. But the relationship is stretching out to the sea.” “There are no plans for a permanent Chinese naval base. “As Gwadar becomes more active as a port, Chinese traffic both commercial and naval will grow to this region,” says a senior foreign ministry official in Islamabad. Yet Islamabad and Beijing for years denied any military plans for the harbour, insisting it was a purely commercial project to boost trade. Owned, financed and built by China, Gwadar occupies a strategic location. Sea lanes nearby carry most of China’s oil imports any disruption could choke the world’s second-largest economy. Pakistan’s Arabian Sea port of Gwadar is perched on the world’s energy jugular. Sources: King’s College, London FT research CIA (shipping routes) Includes investments announced and completed It is estimated to cost $1 trillion.Ports in China and Hong Kong not shown. The BRI is Beijing’s plan to redraw the global economy and involves the building of ports, railways, roads and much else across Asia and Europe. It is one of 33 deals signed between China and Myanmar that comprise the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor during Xi Jinping’s two-day state-visit, the first by a Chinese leader in 19 years. The region is already the site of twin pipelines through which oil produced in Myanmar is delivered and exported to China. The objective of the plan is to rejuvenate the region and connect it to major shipping lanes which in turn will see it import and export energy and goods, in particular from the Middle East and Africa. A new deep-sea port will form the core of a new economic partnership between China and Myanmar after the two countries struck a series of infrastructure deals as part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).Īccording to international reports, the two parties agreed to develop a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Kyaukpyu in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, which will revolve around the new port.įurther reports say the port will be developed by a consortium led by state firm CITIC.
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