What are the national security implications of Chinas investment in the Gwadar port of Pakistan?
This helps China deal with a self-imposed dilemma. On one hand, Beijing is proud to boast that China (in contrast to the USA) does not have any foreign military bases. On the other hand, the Chinese government is giving the Chinese military a green light to establish greater capabilities to operate overseas far away from China. This is a Chinese version of the American “places, not bases,” approach: agreements to use bases in friendly countries without actually owning these bases.
The port at Gwadar also will serve as a hub to the natural gas pipelines in Central Asia. Access to Gwadar will also divert some of China’s tanker traffic through the Strait of Malacca. Gwadar and other ports are part of what the U.S. Defense Dept. refers to as China’s “String of Pearls” strategy. According to the 2005 report “The “String of Pearls” describes the manifestation of China’s rising geopolitical influence through efforts to increase access to ports and airfields, develop special diplomatic relationships, and modernize military forces that extend from the South China Sea through the Strait of Malacca, across the Indian Ocean, and on to the Persian Gulf.” http://www.washingtontimes.com/n… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Str… Editing for update: Interesting new article about the “String of Pearls theory” by Vivian Wang at the July 18 2011 issue of Foreign Policy in Focus http://www.fpif.org/articles/is_… Wang presents information that questions whether the bases are part of
