U.S., Allies Fume As China's Navy, PLA Seek More Foreign Outposts

The United States maintains hundreds of military bases in at least 45 countries. Britain runs plenty of outposts overseas. French forces are stationed from Ivory Coast to New Caledonia. Even tiny Singapore has training camps abroad, The Economist reported.

Photo Insert: A Chinese PLA Navy frigate

But five years after it opened—to the alarm of Western officials—China’s naval base in Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, remains its only military bastion beyond its borders, and it was established purportedly to support China’s Navy in assisting the anti-piracy campaign in the Middle East and Africa.

China wants to change that. Over the past two decades, it has amassed more ships than America’s navy has in total. Lately, it has increased efforts to find foreign berths for them. It is thought to have approached at least five potential host countries, the magazine added.

A deal with the Solomon Islands, signed in April, has raised fears that China may establish a military foothold there. And it has deepened concerns that, one day, China will challenge American naval dominance in the Pacific.

Australia, for a long time a Big Brother to the Solomon Islands, is miffed that a nation it regards as an ally would host a Chinese naval base. Australia earlier complained that a Chinese vessel trained a laser on one of its reconnaissance planes.

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