Beijing ‘seeking Atlantic base’

China is seeking to become an Atlantic naval power and wants a base on the west African coastline to host submarines and aircraft carriers, the US says.

The project by the People’s Liberation Army Navy is linked to China’s Belt and Road initiative to stretch Beijing’s economic and trade influence.

General Stephen Townsend, the head of US Africa Command, said Beijing had strategically developed a network of ports and fortified islets in recent years – sometimes referred to as its String of Pearls – but had not had an Atlantic base before.

Although the Pentagon’s strategy has been focused on the threat posed by China’s naval and missile buildup in the Indo-Pacific region, Townsend said he was concerned about the shorter distance from Africa’s west coast to the US, which is substantially closer than the PLA’s naval facilities in China are to the US west coast.

The Pentagon and the US State Department fear that the PLA is piggybacking on the Belt and Road programme to build a network of naval facilities to enable its submarines, carriers and escort ships to put pressure on US and Nato navies beyond the Pacific region.

China had approached countries stretching from Mauritania to Namibia,

Townsend said.

US officials said China had looked at ports in the Gulf of Guinea area. These are believed to include Kribi in Cameroon, Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Tema in Ghana, and Puerto Macias in Equatorial Guinea.

‘‘They’re looking for a place where they can rearm and repair warships,’’ Townsend said.

China opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti on the Horn of Africa in 2017. It has built a 340-metre wharf there, which is large enough to accommodate an aircraft carrier.

China has two carriers, with a third being built. ‘‘Now they’re casting their gaze to the Atlantic coast,’’ Townsend said.

In a report last year, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC identified 46 African ports where China had financial, construction and operational involvement.

‘‘The Chinese are outmanoeuvring the US in select countries in Africa,’’ Townsend said. ‘‘They are making big bets on Africa.’’

A former senior Pentagon official said: ‘‘Don’t look at what [a West Africa] base means in 2021 or 2027. Think of what it means in 2049 [when President Xi Jinping expects China’s modernisation programme to be completed].’’

GETTY IMAGES China has been wooing west African nations to try to gain access to a port where it can develop facilities to rearm and repair warships like its new aircraft carriers, says the head of US Africa Command.