Washington. December 5th. INTERFAX - Classified US intelligence data suggest that China plans to establish a base in Equatorial Guinea on the Atlantic coast of Africa, The Wall Street Journal newspaper reports, citing unnamed representatives of the American authorities.
Thus, China could get the first permanent deployment point for the military in the Atlantic Ocean, the newspaper explains.
Representatives of the US authorities did not disclose the details of the intelligence, but this information, according to the newspaper, caused great alarm in the White House and the Pentagon. So, in October, US Deputy National Security Adviser John Feiner paid a visit to Equatorial Guinea in order to convince the country's president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo to reject Chinese proposals.
"As part of our diplomacy in the field of maritime issues, we have made it clear to Equatorial Guinea that certain potential steps, including Chinese activity, will cause concern from the point of view of national security," the newspaper quoted an unnamed representative of the US administration as saying.
One of the sources in the White House noted that in Equatorial Guinea, China is probably interested in the seaport and the largest city of the country, Bata: there is already a deep-water commercial port built by China in the Gulf of Guinea.
According to The Wall Street Journal, US intelligence began to note China's interest in the military use of Equatorial Guinea back in 2019. Earlier, representatives of the US defense sector have also already mentioned similar possible plans of Beijing.
The Wall Street Journal recalls that China deployed its first foreign base in 2017 - in Djibouti, and near the largest US base in Africa - Camp Lemonnier, where 4.5 thousand troops are stationed.
At the same time, the newspaper notes, over the past 20 years, Chinese state-owned companies have built 100 commercial ports in Africa. At the same time, in the spring of 2021, US intelligence established that the PRC was building a secret military base in a Chinese-controlled commercial port in the UAE. Washington eventually convinced the UAE authorities to stop this construction, at least temporarily. In addition, it became known earlier that the US authorities advised the local authorities in Mauritania not to allow any attempts by Beijing to use the port built here by China for military purposes.
