A new Pentagon report has said that China is likely to establish additional military bases in Pakistan and other countries with which it has a longstanding friendly ties and similar strategic interests.
In its annual report to the Congress on China's military build-up, the US Department of Defence said China's construction of military base in the strategic location of Djibouti is just the first of what will likely be an ongoing expansion in friendly foreign ports around the world.
It said that “China most likely will seek to establish additional military bases in countries with which it has a longstanding friendly relationship and similar strategic interests, such as Pakistan, and in which there is a precedent for hosting foreign militaries,"
In February 2016, China began construction of a military base in Djibouti and probably will complete it within the next year. China s expanding international economic interests are increasing demands for the PLA Navy to operate in more distant maritime environments to protect Chinese citizens, investments and critical sea lines of communication (SLOC), it said.
In 2016, China conducted counterpiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden by deploying its 24th naval escort task force to the area since 2008.
In May 2016, a nuclear-powered attack submarine conducted a port call in Karachi, Pakistan, during a visit by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Commander, marking China s first port call in South Asia by a nuclear submarine.
According to the Pentagon, Pakistan is also China s largest buyer of arms. From 2011 to 2015, China was the world s fourth largest arms supplier with more than USD 20 billion in sales. Of this, $9 billion was to Asia-Pacific countries, primarily Pakistan.
Last year, China signed an agreement with Pakistan for the sale of eight submarines; the first four will be built in China, with the remaining four in Pakistan.
China sold armed UAVs to several states in the Middle East and North Africa, including Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates.
China faces little competition for sale of such systems, as most countries that produce them are restricted in selling the technology as signatories of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) and/or the Wassenaar Arrangement on Export Controls for Conventional Arms and Dual-Use Goods and Technologies (WA), as well as subjecting exports of this technology to greater scrutiny than China.